


Hi there...again

by comewithmennow90



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Au out the ass, Damian doesnt remember Batman or anyone, Family Fluff, homeless children
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-16
Updated: 2017-09-24
Packaged: 2018-08-22 20:10:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 36
Words: 96,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8299108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/comewithmennow90/pseuds/comewithmennow90
Summary: Bruce failed in stopping Rhas from Resurrecting Damian. Rhas quickly took Damian away and hid him to be raised as he saw fit. Damian being resurrected from the Pits caused him to forget his Ba Family, but that doesn't mean their teachings didn't stick. HE runs away from his Grandfather and embarks on a journey o be his own person. along the way making new friends and meeting old ones.





	1. Chapter 1

God I hate the cold. It was always cold here in this city. I wish that I could have gone somewhere else, but this place was the only place where they couldn’t reach me. Gotham would never be my first choice to hide because I knew what kind of situation I’d be in. I mean I’m 12, with no family, no money, no home, nothing. I have nothing, but I would at least be me here.   
I was born into an organization called the leviathans and my mother was the heiress to the family that ran the organization. The Al ghusl. I was trained since the moment I was born to kill, and that was fine and dandy until I died and was resurrected. I can’t remember anything that might have happened that change me to the point I am now. I can’t bring myself to destroying my enemies any more. I can remember being a child and able to do anything. All in the name of my family, but now, now I can’t even bring myself to do anything that this world might name as a sin. My grandfather had sat me down when these thoughts and feeling were beginning to surface. I wanted to so badly make him proud, but he seemed angry that I was falling for the notion that what he had said was subjective justice. He didn’t like that I was refusing to follow his orders. He didn’t like that I was refusing to kill. He was talking about sending me to a sorcerer. One that would “help” me get over this bout of “foolishness”. I couldn’t let him do that to me. Regardless if it was for my greater good. I couldn’t let myself become something that wasn’t me. So I ran away.   
I took what I dubbed as necessary. A backpack that contained only a wad of money that would get me so far, a couple change of clothes, a few MREs’ and a hunting dagger that would be used only if I were attacked. I figured that if I were abandoning this way of life, that I would go all the way. I wasn’t going to sin anymore. I figured that in my short life, I had done more than my fair share.   
My first chance I got to slip away for the league, I took it. I was sent to do some scouting with a team of fellow assassins in the states on some guy that was said to be studying a way for himself to become immortal. Another way for my grandfather to live forever. The moment my team was distracted by the local heroes I was gone. I went first to New York which at the time was the farthest I could get from where I was sent. I spent maybe a month there before I headed to Gotham. I had to figure out where I could go, keep a low profile, and where the leviathans wouldn’t try to search anytime soon. Thanks to Batman and his history with my grandfather there has been some kind of truce between them. Grandfather doesn’t touch Batman’s territories and Batman doesn’t hunt him down again. A war would ensue if that were to happen and neither of them seem to want that. So Batman’s territory it was. I could hide there for a while till hopefully the hunt for me would die down a bit.  
So that leads me to where I am now. Gotham is way colder than what I’m used to. The island is always warm and nice. Granted I was sent and trained in all kinds of weather, I still wasn’t impervious to the cold. And Gotham is cold. I had brought with me 3 shirts and a jacket, and even wearing all of them couldn’t keep the chill out of my bones at night. I’ve taken to breaking into abandoned warehouses to get some cover from the frigid nights. It helped, but it was never enough to keep me warm. The only time I felt warm anymore was when on the off chance id run into this group of teens. They too were, well I suppose you could call us wanders. They don’t have families either, or at least not ones they want to mention. We met once awkward evening when I had crawled through one of the busted windows in an old lumber warehouse. They were off in the corner of the building setting up for the night when I fell down from the window. I immediately felt all 4 pair of eyes on me. They were all standing at this point and so was I. the dagger I kept in my back pocket feeling heavy. I didn’t know what to expect. I had come across other homeless kids that just tried to steal my things or attack me for some reason. Granted id only had to hit them once and make my own get away, but this was different. There were 4 of them and the only way for me to get out was through the window that was now 10 feet above my head. I could easily climb that, but with 4 people trying to attack me. I don’t know how well this would go.   
Luckily, one of them burst out laughing. A guy that couldn’t have been older than 15 began to laugh at me. Then the others soon followed. I tried to keep a serious face, but the laughter was contagious and I found myself soon falling apart alongside them. They offered to let me join them for the night and I accepted because I didn’t want to have to climb through the window and back into the rainy night just to find a vacant building. I sat down next a boy who had scruffy brown hair and looked to be 14 years old. He said his name was Randall. He was a little stand offish with me but I preferred that over to what the 15 year old boy who was over joyous at me joining them. He introduced himself as Jerold. While the other two remained quiet for some time until Jerold began to introduce them himself. He called the first one who was 14 too as Aladdin. Jerold was rewarded with a smack to the head for such a bad joke. His real name was Ashraf, but ash was ok. The fourth one was an older girl that seemed content to just sit around us. She stayed close to Jerold. When Randall looked at her to see if were go to introduce herself she just gave a simple nod and let out a “veronica”. I nodded and looked back at the small garbage fire that they had started.  
A silence had started after they had introduced themselves and I was slowly lulling to sleep. I was exhausted from the constant running and fighting that once I finally found myself in a comfortable situation I was falling asleep. I just felt like I could trust these guys. Maybe it was the fact that they were like me in a way.   
Well my peace was short lived because veronica nudged me with her foot. “Oh yeah, my turn.” I said. I starched the back of my head trying to come up with a name. I could give them my real name but at the same time I didn’t want to. On the off chance that the league was following me even here.  
“Does it start with a D?” Randall asked my out of the blue. I jumped and looked at him. His face sat in an all knowing smirk. “What makes you think that?” I asked. I could feeling my heart rate pick up. It practically echoing my ear. My palms began to sweat and my eyes dilate. Ready to fight and run at any moment. Veronica kicked my bag and I saw the old carved D in my bags strap. Another moment of a past I don’t truly remember. I calmed a bit, but gained some of my standoffness back. I straightened my back and any feeling of peace began to dissipate. I would spend the night here with them. Wake early in the morning and leave without them knowing.   
I took a deep breath and looked at the wall behind Randall. “I honestly don’t really remember.” I said with a sigh. They all seemed to take it with a sort of ease that I was not expecting. Randall shaking his head in compliance and everyone else just leaning back.   
“So you’re like the others, huh?”   
“What do you mean, like the others?” I asked now intrigued.   
“There is a large amount of people like us that were part of a huge battle a few years back. Between the leviathans and Batman. Those who can’t remember anything because they were brainwashed by the leviathans. They can’t remember who they were. So they just wandered the city.” Jarod explained. It was the first thing I really heard him say and it was said with such and air of sadness.  
“Is that what you are?” I asked. Wishing that I hadn’t. It was too blunt and insensitive.   
“yeah.” It was quiet and a broken whisper from Jerold. He continued to look down while Veronica scooched closer to him. Everyone let the conversation die after that. It was getting late and everyone was tired from the harsh weather. Jerold was the first one to doze off with Veronica letting him rest his head on her lap. While ash and Randall stared into the fire.   
Ash shifted himself a bit till he was leaning against the wall. And Randall followed suite by leaning forward. Laying his body in front the can. I let my shoulders slump a bit.   
“Do you want a name?” Ash asked out. I flicked my eyes up to him and regarded him for a moment. I shrugged my shoulders. I never really thought of taking a new name. Damain was a name that I had come to treasure. It was something my mother gave me. I didn’t want to give it up.   
“If you want to call me something. You can call me Dami.” I offered. It wasn’t my name but it kind of was. Granted just saying that made me cringe. It was such a childish and embarrassing name, but I wasn’t willing to give it up.   
Veronica snorted at it and Randall grinned like he was just given a gift. Ash smiled a bit too but quickly hid it the moment I glared at them. I had enough for the night and laid down. Curled up on my side away from them. Resting my head on my arms as a pillow I let myself fall into a light sleep. Letting myself enjoy the warmth they provided. Distantly I heard the rest of them too lay down and rest.


	2. ch. 2

I woke up before the sun had risen. Taking a cursory look around my surroundings I see the 4 I had bunked with the night before, still sleeping soundly. A quick weight check of my bag let me know that it hadn’t been tampered with. I silently stood up and crept towards the windows that I had come in the previous evening. I had begun the climb up and could see the overcast of the city. The large buildings covered in the early morning mist. Looking as dark and ominous as always.   
I was all the way at the top when I turned one last time to see all four of them still sleeping next to the dying ambers of the fire that must have died completely just a few hours before. I could still feel the warmth from the fire and from them surrounding me. I looked down over the windowsill to the drop to the outside world. I was hesitating. I knew it would be better if I just left. I would be more than likely be leaving this city in a year or so and couldn’t afford getting attached, but I couldn’t bring myself to leave just yet. Part of me wanted to sick around. These people were the first to show me any kind of, well humanity. They didn’t try to steal from me. They gave me a spot to sleep that was warm.   
No. I had to leave. They may be in some kind of trouble, but I am the worse kind of trouble. The kind that would get them killed and tortured. Its better that I just leave. So without taking a breath I let myself slide off the edge and land on the outside. Now with 10 feet wall between us I turned around and began my walk to the city. Id need to find a way to make enough money to buy some food.   
\---------------------------------------------------

It’s been a week since I had my run in with those kids and I have seen any sign of them. Not that I’m complaining. It be awkward if I had to see them after ditching them. I’ve been busy anyway. Keeping a low profile didn’t really let me use any of my skills to make money. So I couldn’t take on missions or really run any businesses. So left with little choice I began to collect cans to trade in for meager money. I’d hit gas stations and restaurant for them. Usually able to collect 2 garbage bags worth. That only get me 15 dollars to last me a week before id be able to collect enough cans to trade in.   
I was on my way to the dollar store to see what I could buy in terms of food to last me a week. With winter just around the corner the nights came quicker. I usually tried to find a place to stay before it was completely dark out, but this time I had to wait a bit at the dollar store because the old women wanted to pay for her load with pennies. With a back pack full of granola bars and dented cans I made my trek back to a building that was partially abandoned due to the mold that was growing in it.  
I was half way back when I heard a thump that sounded eerily like a body hitting the ground. I looked left and saw the four I had met a week early. Veronica was on the ground with a man standing over her. Something was said and I saw the man take a step so he was now standing over her with and his hand out. I saw Jerold standing not too far back from veronica looking very distressed. While Ash and Randall was not doing too well themselves. Ash was sporting a black eye and Randall was pinned to the ground by one the man’s thugs.   
It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was happening. They were being mugged for whatever meager money they had. Well that was just not gonna do.   
I gave it little thought before I was running towards them at full speed. I only heard an oof as my foot made contact with the guys face. I quickly turned to the one who had Randall pinned and swung my heavy backpack filled with cans at him. He was knocked off and was proceeded to be stomped on by my foot.   
“How does it feel, huh? Having someone’s foot on your face? Huh?” I ground out as I increased the pressure on my foot. I looked over and saw the man get up, grimacing as he stood up. He was now sporting a nice foot shaped bruise on his face.   
“Who the hell do you think you are?!” he called at me. I only cocked my head to the side. My foot still firmly planted on his partners face. This was all child play to me.   
“Me? I’m nothing, but I’m sure given enough time I can become your end.” I needed something to blow steam and if this guy was willing to step up as my stress relief, who am I to refuse. He stopped in his tracks. He backed up and put his hand up.  
“Whoa there. Ok. Look its hard times for us and we were just trying to see if they were willing to share some of their good fortune.” He tried to pacify me.  
“We worked hard for that money! There’s barely enough for two weeks rations!” Randall yelled out from his new position next to Jerold. Ash too had gotten back up. Making his way to Veronica who was still recovering on the ground.  
The man began to sweat at that. He continued to back up till he was far enough where he turned tail and ran. Leaving his buddy behind, under my foot still. I looked down at him and saw that he too was getting a nice indent of my shoe on his face. “You have a shitty friend, ya know that?” I asked not expecting an answer, but still got a bit of a head nod. I sighed and lifted my foot up and took a step back.   
“Get going before I decided that you need another reminder of my foot.”   
He quickly got up and ran off in the same direction his buddy did. I took this chance to see where everyone was standing. Veronica was now standing and had Jerold between her arms while Randall and ash were making their way to me.   
“That was sick man! You came out of nowhere!”  
“Your timing was impeccable Dami”  
They kept talking like that for a moment till I nodded at them. I wasn’t used to people saying how cool I was, my face was becoming red and I had moved my gaze to the ground. “I needed to pay you back somehow for allowing me to stay with.” I said. Trying to play it off.   
“If that’s how you pay people back, please stay with us again! That guy has hit us up more times than I can count!” Randall said, while a huge relieved smile reached his face. I chuckled and made my way to my bag that I had tossed earlier. When I had collected my stuff I stood up straight and stuffed my hands into my pockets. Now that the adrenaline was leaving my body I was starting to feel the cold again. The coat I had was not sufficient for this weather. I was about to take my leave with a wave of my hand when I felt someone catch it mid wave. I looked up to see it was Veronica who grabbed my hand.   
“Let’s head back before it gets too cold out.” She said in a calming voice. She began to walk forward with my hand still firmly held in her right hand while she held onto Jerold hand in her left. I don’t know why I let her drag me back to that warehouse or why ash’s and Randall’s constant talking didn’t make me more annoyed but I was content to let them do as they pleased. When we had made it back I was warm again. The fire going again and a can of soup over the fire filling the air with the promise of food. We ate in hushed voice talking about nothing in particular, but it was peaceful. One that I found myself falling into with little resistance. When I finally let myself sleep I knew that I wouldn’t be leaving before dawn like before. I was going to stay with them. For however long I could.


	3. ch. 3

It’s been 6 weeks since I joined this band of misfits and it’s been honestly some of the most liberating time I can ever recall. They don’t seem to mind any of my more questionable quirks. They seem to just take whatever I do or say in strides. They didn’t question it when I would set traps outside our little homes window, or when I would do some of my morning regimes too keep myself in shape. And whenever I would have a nightmare of my grandfather, veronica would let me lay my head on her lap and Jerold and ash would sleep beside me, while Randall would start going on about whatever was on his mind at the current time. It would easily drown out whatever residue of fear my dream would behind. It was nice having them beside me.  
The first day I spent with them is what set the routine we would follow. During the day they would go to “work” or at least what we can count as work. They would go to the dump where it seemed there was a colony of people who were there, and they would begin to collect scrap metal. I helped them collect as much scrap we could before they walked me over to where a man in a stand was weighing the metals and handing out money. As it came to my turn, I deposited my sack on the machine and it came up to 76 pounds. The guy let out a long whistle and handed me 46 dollars. I heard a few people behind me complaining that about the amount of money, but a cursory glance told me that they just didn’t have as much materials as I had brought up.  
I went to the entrance of the yard and stuffed my hands in my jacket, cursing the shitty weather Gotham had. I waited for the rest of them to finish up with theirs’s when I took notice of the fact that there were quite a bit of young people also doing this. Ranging from 14 to 20 year olds over half of the people in line were kids like veronica and the rest. That’s when I remembered about what Randall had told me. That there was a war between Batman and the leviathans a few years ago. That there were quite a bit a child sleeper agents. These must be remnants of the agents. Just like Grandfather to use and abandon his soldiers. Chances are these kids had families that they killed when they were activated.   
“Dami!” I turned away from my thoughts to see Randall and the rest making their way towards me. I wonder if they were agents too. “Heard you got a good haul out here.” Randall said with a sparkle in his eyes. When he first brought up me going with them I was hesitant. I know that most people out on the streets didn’t like to share how they managed to get money. The places I would hit up for cans was out of the way so I wouldn’t be bothering anyone that had already “claimed” a certain area. Though I am glad I did come. I hadn’t had this much money on hand since I had first ran away.   
“Yeah, I did. I managed to carry quite a bit back. Would have managed to carry more if my bag was going to burst if I put more in.” I said. I was in quite a bit of a good mood right now because of it.   
“Alright, let’s go to the store to see what we can get. I managed to get 20, how much did you guys get?” Veronica said, getting back to business.   
“I got 15” Jerold piped up, with a smile on his face.  
“I have 19!” Randall said handing his bills over to Veronica.  
“24” ash said. Proud that he seemed to have collected the most.  
“I got 46.” I offered the stash to Veronica. I knew that she would use it on things that we would need to survive. Granted I would like to keep some in an emergency fund, but I will speak to her about that later. Right now we needed enough money to get us enough food for at least a week.   
“Jesus Dami. How?” Veronica was astonished. I just gave a simple shrug. Everyone seemed to be happy about the turn of events.  
“We will finally make it a week without scraping!” Randall yelled. Ash quickly shushed him. Not wanting to gather more attention than we already were getting. Jerold gave a thankful sigh when Randall finally toned down his voice. Hopefully we wouldn’t have another incident like last time.   
We walked to their local dollar store where I let veronica run up and down the aisles gathering supplies. The rest of us stood outside the store so we wouldn’t make the staff nervous. A bunch of homeless kids running around the store would only spell trouble. Randall and Ash made small talk about what they thought Batman wore under his suite. I threw out there that I felt uncomfortable thinking about that. They just giggled and ash wrapped his arm around me, which I tossed back. I then went over to Jerold to wrap him in my arms as if I was protecting him for the two. Jerold let out a chuckle and tried to wrap his arms around me, but I twisted myself out of it. We horsed around till Veronica came out with bags full of variants of food. She managed to grab what looked like a two weeks’ worth a rations from our collective earnings. No could keep their relief inside. Randal as always let out a jubilant yelp, while ash was congratulant Veronica on her shopping skills, while me and Jerold just laughed and smiled in happiness. We would be ok. For a few weeks and if I still made my round for the cans I could bring in some extra cash.   
With everyone in a gleeful mood, we made our way to the warehouse, but before we were back Veronica called for a halt. “I need to take Dami for a coat that won’t let him freeze to death. So you three take the bags back before it gets too dark and set up for the night.” I didn’t know what to say for that. I hadn’t even really thought about a new coat. Food was more important.  
“Veronica, that’s not necessary. I will be fine.”   
“The coat you have now will get you killed here in a few weeks if that’s all you have. Everyone else got a coat that is made for this city, but you, so come on.” I stopped and stared at everyone else and took in that yes they were dirty and withered, but they did look warm.  
“You go on Dami. We will be fine. Can’t have ya dyeing on us from frostbite.” Ash reassured me.  
I didn’t really get much of a chance to respond to him before Veronica grabbed my wrist and started walking down the sidewalk towards a cluster of stores. We walked like that for some time before I finally just started to follow her. She then let go of me and we walked in silence for a bit.  
“I should thank you for the assist last night, Dami. If you hadn’t been there I have a feeling that they would have beat one of us half to death because we didn’t have any money really.”  
“It’s ok.” I said with a shrug. I didn’t know how to respond to her thanking me.  
She didn’t say anything after that. So we just kept on walking. It was 15 minutes later that we arrived at a second hand shop. We went inside and I was overcome with the smell of refreeze and something tangy in the air. I didn’t want to dwell on it for too long. She led me down to the men’s section where a line of oversized coats hung. Veronica quickly started shifting hangers around looking. I didn’t bather looking at any myself. I knew that she would fine something that would right for me. About five minutes of her shifting through the hangers and me letting my mind wander, she let out a triumphed noise. I turned my attention to her and saw that she had a black heavy jacket with a hood. She walked up to me with it and held up to my body. I could already see that it would easily reach almost to my knees and that the sleeves would overcome my arms by 3 inches. I was apprehensive when I saw it, but she made me put it on. It was heavy and made me feel like I was wearing armor rather than a coat, but I did feel immediately warmer.   
Veronica stepped back to examine her work and once she had her fill she nodded and made her way to the cashier. I checked the price tag and saw that I was only 4 dollars. How she managed this was beyond me. She was a good shopper. I followed her out of the store and when the wind hit me, I didn’t shiver. The coat was down to my knees and my arms we completely covered so I rolled up my selves so at least my hands could be out. Veronica and I walked back to the warehouse and climbed up the side of the building to the window. When we were both in I could feel the warmth of a fire. I saw not too far off, that Randall was adding some sticks that he must have collected to the fire that was in the tin garbage while Ash was mixing what I assumed was a pot of chicken soup.   
“Nice jacket Dami.” Jerold said from his spot next to the fire.  
“Finally! Now you won’t try to steal my bodies’ warmth!” Randall said, now in front of the fire. I rolled my eyes at him. I took a spot not too far from the fire letting my coat soak up the heat but encasing me in it as well. Ash just chuckled at us, letting Veronica take his spot as cook. We spent the night talking about stories we heard about the hero’s around the world and I of course had the best because of my background, but it was nice hearing others tell these stories. We all had our share of chicken noodle soup and with a full belly and a type of heat inside my bones I did not know existed I fell into a deep dreamless sleep.


	4. ch. 4 Red Hood

We have been together for six weeks so far and we had managed to make a pretty decent living since. We still portion our food and stick to a strict schedule so we can avoid a thugs. Although I could handle it myself, no one wants to take the chance. Once a week we go to the junk yard to gather scraps and once a week we go back to my old haunts to collect cans. We have surviving pretty well. Today was an off day for us so we went to go walking around the city so I could finally see the sights, as Randall had put it.  
I had been in town now for about 4 months now and due to the daily struggle to survive never bothered to actually explore any of the deeper parts of the city. We went to look at the monuments are the city and looked at the sky scrapers. The largest one was Wayne Tower, with a giant fucking “w” on top. I shook my head at it, turning away to see Jerold and veronica already walking away to the next building. We spent the rest of the day just making our way around the city and enjoying each other. We had barely registered when the sun began to set and when we finally decided that we had enough, we were almost in total darkness. Jerold stood closer too Veronica while Randall and Ash became quiet. I tried to take the lead, but Randall walked beside me the whole way. We tried to stick to the alleys so we wouldn’t be out in the open.  
It was taking us a lot longer to get back to our hideout than I had thought. The longer we stayed out in the dark, I could feel everyone’s apprehension. We were pretty deep in, when I heard the telltale sign that someone was getting a beat down. I could hear the thumps and the wails from the man that was getting beaten. Randall hunched a bit forward, trying to make him smaller. I personally winced when I heard a pretty clear crack of bones breaking and the deep chuckles that I can only assume came from the guy dealing out the punches. I kept my eyes trained forward, feeling my adrenaline begin pumping in my veins. I could feel my daggers weight in my coat pocket, hidden away for the time being.  
We came to the opening of the alley and was faced with the decision of going into the opening or continue on in the next alley way, where the sounds of a man now crying could be heard. I exchanged looks with Veronica and she threw her head at the alley way. She was right, at least this way we know where one attacker was, and could avoid him. We crouched down, and began to dart between the buildings, just trying to get through without any unwanted attention. We were making pretty good timing, and if we kept this up we would be back in 30 min. that was the plan at least.  
A man’s body came crashing down on us. Randall and Jerold both screamed and took off into the street. I distinctly heard the word “shit” hissed over us. Veronica ran after them with little hesitation with Ash on her heels. I was about to go after them when the fallen man’s hand grabbed my left foot in a death grip. I let out a frustrated cry and was about to pry his hand off, when I heard the body land only a few feet in front of us. I froze and looked up to see the outline a man’s body in the dark. I wasn’t surprised at that, but the two guns he was holding made me twitch. I had my hand in my coat pocket in seconds, gripping the daggers handle.  
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. You still alive after that fall?” the man stepped out of the darkness where I could make out he was a rather tall man, with a brown leather jacket. His face was covered by a red metal helmet. I knew who this was. This was Red Hood. I didn’t know much about him, but I know his M.O. He was a hero, but at the same time he could be bad news. He was known for killing those he deemed as a threat to his cause. As long as I didn’t provoke him. He would probably let me go unharmed. On the off chance though, my dagger was still in my hand.  
“You scared the shit out some kids and I see that you got a good grip on one of them.” he was speaking so casually about the situation. I lowered myself into a defensive position. He made his way all the way up to the man and crouched down to the hand that was still wrapped around my leg.  
“Are you planning on letting go anytime soon? I’m sure he doesn’t want to be here and honestly it looks like he had some friends that were spooked already by you.” I looked down at him, grateful that I had my hood up to cover my eyes, which am sure were filled with fear and a certain kind of wildness you can only find in feral animals.  
Red Hood nudge the guy’s hand, but it held fast. If anything it tightened. I knew I was going to have a bruise there now. “Come one man. You lost already. If you’re trying to take a hostage I think this kid could beat you. So why not just let him go and accept this quietly. I really don’t want to end you in front of him.” Red hood lamented. I would have said it was sweet, but I knew he was anything but. He simply wanted me out of the way. The man shook his head and so Red Hood reached out and began to forcibly remove the man’s hand from my leg. The man began to make violent noises and jerks. Red Hood wound up grabbing my leg to give him better leverage, but he seemed to miss that the man was reaching into his pocket. He yanked out a tooth pick of a knife and I had already pulled my dagger from my pocket. Poised and ready to kill when I heard a shot right in my left ear. I heard a deft ringing and looked down to see the hood had his gun pulled out and aimed at the guy’s head. I didn’t even notice when he pulled his weapon. The grip on my leg was now laxed and the man’s body was limp.  
“Damn. I was hoping I could do this one clean to avoid the wash.” I looked down to see that his pants were splattered with blood. I was also now covered in it. My jacket taking the brunt of it.  
“You planning on trying to use that on me?” Red Hood nodded at my dagger that I was still holding up.  
“Are you going to make me?” I responded back. I wasn’t out of the woods yet with Red Hood. He had a reputation of being, well, unhinge. Red Hood just chuckled and holstered his weapons. I did the same. Tucking my blade back in my pocket. I took a step back from the body to take in what had happened. I stood there watching at Red Hood reached into his jean pocket and pulled out card and drop it on the body.  
“Sorry you had to see the unsavory side of my job there kid. And uh, sorry for the coat.” I looked down and just examined my coat. I just had gotten this coat and I could already feel the blood soak through. Shivered from the chill or having something we on me. I unzipped my coat, figuring that it be better to just try to go without. Red Hood watched me do so with no comment.  
“It’s ok. I will wash it later.” I said as I backed up. Taking my coat off and wrapped it up around my arms. Red Hood too stood up, but his was by far more abrupt. I jerked back by how sudden it was. “I’m leaving now.” I say quickly and began to make my way to the edge where I saw Veronica and the rest run off too. My steps were quick and light when I heard Hood call out to me.  
“Hey wait! You know, it was kinda my fault you jacket was ruined, so how bout you give it to me to wash and I give it back in a day?” he bargained. I honestly just wanted to run away at this point. Hood had jogged towards me. Now standing once again in front of me he placed a large warm hand on my shoulder in what I assume was a friendly gesture.  
“No, that’s not necessary. I can do it myself. Umm, thank you, though. I will be going now.”  
“Now, now. How bout we make a switch till I get it back to you.” Hood was shouldering off his own jacket and was holding it in front of me in offering. “You can keep my already clean and warm jacket till I can get this back you.” I was about to once again refuse when he was already grabbing my soaked jacket from my arms. “I insist.” He finished. Already holding my jacket and throwing his over my shoulders.  
“Uhhh thanks. I suppose I will be seeing you around.” Words could not describe how unsettled I was by this whole situation. I was about to turn and leave when I remembered I had my dagger in my Jacket pocket. I couldn’t leave without my weapon. I turned back to him and reached forward to go into my pocket. I pulled my dagger out, but by doing so I had let Red Hood get a glimpse of it.  
“That’s a nifty looking thing you got there. Real cool design on it and everything.” He complimented. I could only hope he didn’t recognize the mark of the al ghuls it still had on it.  
“Thanks, I will see around.” I abruptly stood up and turned away. Sprinting down the alley away from the red masked vigilante.  
“You certainly will, Damian.” I really hope I imagined that last part.


	5. ch. 4 Jason

Jason Pov  
When I had “accidently” dropped my latest victim while I was dangling him over the roof of a building, I was expecting the sound of kids screams. Probably should have checked to see if any strays were in the area. I saw two of them sprint out of the alley like rabbits and then two more follow, calling for them. Figured that I had just scared the shit out of a couple of street kids with that stunt. Oh well. Collateral damage, I guess. I lept off the side of the building and landed a few feet away from the guy I had dropped. He was a mangled mess, with a broken leg and probably a bunch of others things broken inside of him. My goal for the night was to add a broken spirit to the list. The guy was slouched up with his hand gripping the left legs of some kid. Must have been part of the group of kids that ran off. Shitty friends to just run off without him. The kid was short and had an obnoxiously large coat that literally swallowed him. His hood was up so I couldn’t really make out how old he was, but with that height, he was just a baby. Too young to be out on the streets this late. Must have been a left over from the leviathan’s incident.   
I grimaced at the memory of the night. The whole city was under siege and me and my team were trying to keep our sectors under control. And then it seemed like it just stopped. Like a thunder storm. I went to the Bat Cave to bitch at Batman to see what had a happened, but once I saw the little coffin and no demon spawn, I lost all words. I couldn’t even stay in the cave a moment after everything clicked. I needed to get out of there. I needed to get out of Gotham.   
I sped away with little word on where I was going. I didn’t know where I was going. I was just so angry. How could Damian be dead? How could Bruce let it happen again? I thought I was his greatest mistake! Now it seems I’ve been replaced in that category too.   
I looked at the kid a bit more and he seemed to have noticed me. Stood up, like he was ready to take me out. Ha! This kid got something commin.   
“Tsk. Tsk.Tsk. you still alive after that fall?” I drawled as I took a few large steps from my comfy dark corner. Fully revealing myself. Well not fully. I had my signature red helmet on. I stopped when I was only a step away from the two of them. Enjoying the way the guy shake from my approached. He had a serious grip on the kid. One that would leave a mark on him for days. That’s not fair  
“You scared the shit out of some kids and I see that you got a good grip on one of them.” I was speaking out loud now. Trying to get the guy to get distracted enough so the kid could kick his leg free and be off like his pals. I bent down to the offending hand and nudged it. The guys grip tightened somehow and I saw the kid’s pants legs begin to ride up to reveal a dark spot.   
“Are you planning on letting go anytime soon? I’m sure he doesn’t want to be here and honestly it looks like he had some friends that were spooked already by you.” I drawled again. My patience with the man was reaching it end. His grip on the kid was indicating he was not planning on leaving this world alone. I glanced up to see how the kid was holding up but his lousy hood had absurd his whole face from me.   
. “Come one man. You lost already. If you’re trying to take a hostage I think this kid could beat you. So why not just let him go and accept this quietly. I really don’t want to end you in front of him.” I tried once more before I forcibly removed him from the kid. I grabbed the guy’s fingers and began to bend them back when he began to thrash around. To gain a better grip I had to grab the boy’s leg. I caught out of the corner of my eye how his hand went deeper into his pocket. Must have a knife on him. Well at least he wasn’t completely stupid. I was gonna go back to prying the hand off when I saw the guys other hand reach to his back pocket. Whelp time to end this quick. A quick shot to the head and my night was over.   
The hand immediately relaxed and slid off the kid’s leg. While the body went limp on the ground.   
“Damn. I was hoping I could do this one clean to avoid the wash” I looked down to see that had collected a fair amount of blood on my jeans. I looked up and saw that the kid had a dagger pointed down at the now dead man. He looked pretty menacing, for someone who barely reached my waist line.   
“You planning on trying to use that on me?” I nodded at the blade. If the kid even thought he was going to use it on me, hehe, he was in for a shock. I won’t go easy on him just because he was a kid.   
“Are you going to make me?” This little shit. He wanted to test me? Humph, what could he actually do? It was kinda cute that this baby thought he could fight me. I fully stood up and pulled out my calling card so that the police would know that another criminal was taken out. Id deposit the evidence later.   
“Sorry you had to see the unsavory side of my job there kid. And uh, sorry for the coat.” I finally took in how the kid looked. Granted now that he had the dagger safely holstered and back in his pocket, he still looked way to calm. Especially since he was technically in a hostage situation and was now covered in blood. He seemed to finally take in his appearance and I saw his form deflate a little. The coat looked pretty warm and that was a necessity to live in this city. Regardless if you were a street rat or not.  
I squatted down for a moment to examine my handy work. In my peripheral vision I could see that he was unzipping his coat. It might be better to go without one at this point. Any cover t could have offered this night was out the window. “It’s ok. Ill wash it later.” He said as he took a step back from me and taking it off. I swear to whatever god is out there, I am not drunk or high. This kid had taken off his jacket and wrapped it around his arm, and his face. His damn face. It’s every Wayne face I’ve seen in pictures. Its Bruce’s face. Its Damien’s face. With the bright green eyes that only now haunt my dreams in complete this nightmare. My body sprang up. My survival instincts kicked in and I felt like I should attack him for even daring to look like the kid, but I held myself back.   
“I’m leaving now.” He abruptly turned and began to sprint to the end of the alley. Little shit. I’d bet my left kidney that’s Damian and he knows his playtime is over. Boy would be resurrected only to try and mess Gotham.   
“Hey wait! You know, it was kinda my fault you jacket was ruined, so how bout you give it to me to wash and I give it back in a day?” I called out to him. Making him trip a bit from my booming voice. He stopped. He was in front of him in moments and laid my hand on his should. I could feel his bones beneath hands. He had obviously been out here for a while to have gotten skinny enough for me to practically feel his clavigal under my thumb. I could also feel how cold his skin was becoming already. I felt his muscles reflexively strain under my hand. Like he was preparing to try and dash away from me. I tightened my hand just a bit, just in case he did try. This kid had to be Damian. He had to be.   
“No, that’s not necessary. I can do it myself. Umm, thank you, though. I will be going now.” He tried to take another step back, but my hand remand and so did he.  
“Now, now. How bout we make a switch till I get it back to you.” I really wanted this kid to stick around a bit more. Maybe I should knock him out and take him to Batman, to run some tests. Maybe I should just take him back to my place, to test him and see if he was actually trained like our Damian. He looked like Damian, talked like Damian, and breathed like Damian. But the deciding factor for him to be my Damian would be for him to fight like the spawn.   
I was shouldering my jacket off before he could say anything and was holding it up for him. If he took my jacket I could track him anywhere he went. Batman had placed one on me, thinking I wouldn’t notice, but I did eventually. Decided to keep it in case I ever lost it. Turns out its good for a different reason. . “You can keep my already clean and warm jacket till I can get this back you.” He was about to reject me again, but I was already grabbing his out of his arms. It was indeed soaked and the weight of it was not lost on me. “I insist.” I said. I had his jacket in my arms now and was placing mine over his shoulders. Securing my way of tracking him.   
“Uhhh thanks. I suppose I will be seeing you around.” He turned around and was about to start walking away from me, when he abruptly turned back to me. I was a little hesitant as I saw him take a step towards me. I wasn’t expecting this. He reached to his jacket pocket and dug through it. He slid the dagger out. I completely forgot about it. On the handle was the insignia of the leviathans. Ding! Ding! Ding! I defiantly have a winner here. This is Damien Wayne. And he will come with me. He will be returned where he belongs.  
“That’s a nifty looking thing you got there. Real cool design on it and everything.” I couldn’t stop myself. I was feeling exhilarated.   
“Thanks, I will see around.” Damian spun around with dagger in hand and his hands now clutching my coat around his shoulders.   
“You certainly will, Damian.” I didn’t care if he heard me and I didn’t see any indication that he had even heard me. I watched as he ran out the alleyway and disappeared down the street. I spun around and began to go back into the cities maze of alleyways. I felt a chill go up my spine from the wind and made mental note to get my jacket back soon. Very soon. But first I need to have a talk with Bruce.


	6. ch. 5

Hey, so I just posted the last chapter that was Jason’s perspective and I feel like I should say something as an author. I have been posting this on Reddit as well as fanfiction.net. I have never used fanfiction.net, but I was told that it was a good option. Still working on archive of our own but till then, I will be posting its here and reddit. Umm so if you have any questions or whatever just leave a comment. I’m not very responsive honestly but I will read it and if there is a reason to respond I will. With that I suppose I should thank the one person from fanfic.net that did comment. Thanks! I was sure if anyone was actually reading this there and was debating just staying with Reddit. I have a Tumblr too that I have been posting this on. Once again, I don’t respond on that much either, so yeah. This note is just here to say hi. I’m new to .net and have fun with story. It’s kind of fun to write and think about and there are a bunch of other ideas I have that might not make it in but if I can pull enough motivation to write them. For now, have fun with Hi there…again.   
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I was running as fast as I could. Away from Red Hood and the mess that he would undoubtedly bring me the second I let him. I knew what I would have to do. I just wanted to say goodbye.   
I kept going until I knew I was on the edges and maybe 10 minutes away from the warehouse. I slowed down a bit. Trying to catch my breath I looked back to see an empty street. I wasn’t followed for the time being. I looked down at myself and saw the jacket. Red Hood had willing gave me his jacket. I yanked it off me immediately. There had to be some kind of tracking on it. That’s how he was going to hunt me. That’s how he was going to tell batman where to attack. The moment he knew a leviathan, regardless an AWOL one, was on the loose in his city. It was the end of me. I threw the offending jacket in the closest dumpster. I continued down the street trying to calm the whirlwind in my mind. In one day it had gone to shit. I was happy just this morning. I had friends. We were just playing around today and in one fucking hour it all went to hell. Now I had to leave. I just wanted to see them one more time before I left.   
I continued to walk forward when I felt the stinging in my eyes. I rubbed them trying to get whatever debris was in them. They felt wet and excessive amount of water was starting to come down them. My breathing became labored and my chest felt way heavier.   
“Dami!” I looked ahead and saw Randall and Veronica running towards me.   
“Are you alright?”  
“We are sorry we left you Dami!”  
“Thought you were right behind us!”  
“Are you hurt?”   
I just looked at them. They reached me and veronica grabbed my hand while Randall went for the hug. I didn’t want to answer their questions. I just wanted to go back. Back to the warehouse. Back in time so that way I can say we should just take our chances out in the open.  
“Dami, are you alright? We didn’t mean to leave you behind. We would never want to leave you. “Veronica reached forward and wiped a water drop from face. I was crying. I couldn’t remember the last time I cried. I don’t think I ever did. Randall tightened his hold on me. He felt warm. Veronicas hand was still on my face. I just wanted to enjoy this moment.   
We stood there for a moment till I collected myself. Randall let me go with a pat on my back and Veronica led me back the rest of the way to the warehouse. She let me crawl in first and then Randall. When I was in the building again I saw Ash and Jerold waiting by the fire. Jerold was tucked away in a corner with Ash standing up. When they saw us Ash made his way over to us with open arms.  
“I’m so sorry Dami. I was so sure that you were right behind me the whole time.” I waved him off. I just wanted to not think about it right now. I just wanted to be with them. I made my way to the fire beside Jerold who reached up and took my hand. He pulled my gently down to sit next to him. I sat next to him. Veronica sat on the other side of me, running her fingers through my hair. Randall and Ash were on the other side of the fire. We were all quiet. I laid back against the wall, wishing for a moments of peace. I tried to focus on them surrounding me, but I could only think about how tomorrow night id be in a different city by myself again. Why did this have to happen? I just wanted to be my own person, but I suppose I couldn’t ever be that. Grandfather gave me my life, so it was never mine to begin with. If I want my own I need to fight for it. I can’t allow others get caught up in this mess. If I stay Batman will hunt me and in turn so will the leviathans. I was too complicated for them.   
I waited for all of them to slowly start to fall asleep. Jerold went down fist. He was still holding my hand and was now leaning against the wall with me. Ash went next. He slumped down beside Veronica. Curled up on his side. Randall chose to lean against a wall further away from the fire. Veronica was the last. I didn’t even really notice when she nodded off. She was still running her fingers through my hair late into the night. I think she kept doing it after she fell asleep. I allowed myself to stay still in this dream for a bit. Enjoying the warmth that they were giving off. I loved how close they stuck to me. It felt safe there. In the middle of everyone, but I had to go.  
I gently pried my hand out of Jerold’s and leaned Veronica down to the floor as fluidly as I could. I stood up and tip toed towards my old backpack. I had been leaving it around the warehouse since this has been my safe haven. I grabbed it and slung it around my shoulders. I had all my old stuff in there. A small stash of cash that I had been trying to save through the weeks, my old jacket, and a handful of granola bars. It wasn’t much but I was something. I reached into my first pocket and counted how much cash I had. 56 dollars. Not much. I pulled 20 out and put it on top of Ash. They would need something to cushion my leave. I stuffed the remaining bills back in with my dagger. I silently made my way to the window. I felt like I was on a death walk.  
Every step I took was heavier and my breathing was once again becoming labored. I was not about to cry. I had to be strong. I was strong. I’ve spent my whole life learning how to take pain. I’ve been beaten, broken, and rebuilt. I’ve had died and brought back to life. I can handle anything. At least that’s what I tell myself as I climb up to the window. That what I thought, until I heard Randal speak.  
“Dami? What are you doing?”  
Shit. I looked down to see Randal awake and standing below me. I couldn’t handle this. I couldn’t handle them see me leave. I couldn’t handle actually having someone see me running away. A bubble of pain was coming up my throat and before I could swallow it down, it had burst out in a quiet sob. I tried to muffle myself, but I couldn’t anymore. I lost.   
“Dami? You don’t have to leave. We didn’t mean to leave you. I’m so sorry. We won’t ever leave you Dami. I’m so sorry.” I couldn’t say anything. I could only shake my head. I didn’t care that they ran off. They came back for me. No one had done that for me.   
“Dami. Please just tell me what we need to do.” He was bargaining again. I needed to tell him something. I was already a mess in front of him.  
“There’s nothing you can do. I need to leave.” My voice came out in short breathes and was shakily the whole time.  
“What do you mean Dami?”  
“I need to leave. There’s some people that are looking for me and I can’t stay.” I gave him the simplest version of what was going on. He didn’t need to know that.  
“Dami, you can hide with us.”  
“No I can’t. I have to leave before they find me with you.”  
“Dami, please. It will hurt everyone if you leave.”  
“But I have to.”  
“No Dami!”  
I had allowed myself to fall out of the window. I didn’t care that when I landed it was thump. Anything to take me out of that situation. I was able to get up and begin to run off into the darkness. I could hear Randall calling for me. No doubt waking everyone else. I just kept running. To where? I had no idea.   
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This was a short chapter because I needed the plot to move forward. Anyway stay tuned.  
Walls


	7. ch. 6

I was in a freeing mood as I sped away on my bike towards the bat cave underground entrance. The biting wind on my back and a stinging pain quickly sinking into my bones, but I didn’t care. When I get to the bat cave I could hack into their computer and track Damian down. I could tell Bruce that Damian wasn’t with Rhas. That he could still be saved. Be brought back home. It was thrilling.   
I rode my bike under the archways. Seeing the old platform fall into place for me to park and enter into the rest of the cave. I skidded to a stop and shut off my bike. I quickly jumped off and jogged to the entrance. Alfred was at the staircase entry waiting for me.  
“Master Jason, for what reason do we have for this surprise visit?” the old butler asked. It had been some time since I had seen him and his age showed. The years of grief and stress were showing over his face. The latest loss had done a particular number to him. Being one of the last few people to see Damian healthy and so very much alive had caused him to hold a considerable more amount of guilt for letting the boy out that night. I can only hope that the news I had to bring would put a bit more pep in his step.   
“I need to talk to Bruce immediately.”  
“Master Bruce is still changing out of his uniform. He should be done soon enough. Would you like something to drink or eat while you wait?  
“No, thank you Alfred.” I was about to start going to the main computer when I remembered Damian’s coat. I had thrown it in my bikes sack. I walked backed down to my bike and retrieved it.  
“If you don’t mind though. I need this jacket cleaned.” I held up the now dried, blood crusted jacket for Alfred’s inspection. He evaluated the damage and nodded his head.   
“Of course, master Jason.”   
I was almost pass the caves threshold when Alfred asked. “And who if I may ask does this belong to?” I couldn’t stop the smile that was breaking across my face.   
“Our boy.” I left it at that. He would soon hear the news.  
I waited by the main computer. Already putting in the codes to track my jacket down.  
“How did you know that there was a tracker in your jacket?” Bruce asked from behind me. I turned my head to look at him to see that he was wearing some lose sweat pants and a t-shirt. Clearly getting ready for bed.   
“Because it’s so like you to.” I turned back to the monitors as they started to give out the current coordinates of my jackets where about.  
“Did you lose your jacket or something?” Bruce asked incredulity. Like he believed that I would come back just so I could retrieve a lost jacket. I didn’t do it for my helmet when Damian stole it, so why would I come back for my jacket? Then again it was precisely the reason why I didn’t just get remove the bug in the first place. So he might have some reason to believe. Not that he actually had proof.  
“I didn’t lose it. I gave it up knowing I could just have it tracked here.” I explained. I was trying to mentally prepare myself for what was about to come. Bruce had lost it completely after Damian’s death. There was a time where the justice league actually had to step in and arrest him or something. I got the story second hand from Roy, but after Batman had tried to take a special suite to go after Rhas in. the let him out once everyone was sure that he wasn’t about to go on another suicide mission. He was still on probation with them.   
Now standing in front of him, I could see the difference. He was skinner than the last time I saw him. With large purple splotches under his eyes. His once strict posture was now more of a slouch. He looked like he had just taken a beating, but I knew. He had been getting beaten for most of his life and the death of his blood son had been the final straw. He began to walk towards me and I saw that he was more robotic in his movements. I hadn’t had much of a chance to really see him since Damian died, but he was healthier then. Guess there were somethings Alfred couldn’t stop on his own.  
“Do I want to know why?” he gave a tired sigh.  
“Actually Bruce, I really need to talk to you.” I paused. He looked a bit more interested then. His attention more on me now. I gave a sigh and leaned back against the counter.  
“I know this is going to be a bit of shock, but please believe me or at least check this out with Me.” he took a second to nod his head. His face now set in an ugly grimace. Frown lines sinking even further into his face to give him a more stoic look.   
“I saw Damian tonight.” I just said it. I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I heard Alfred in the back ground drop whatever he was carrying. He had frozen to his spot. His back hunched over and his old frail body begin to tremble. Bruce was no better. His face was darkened. His sockets now resembling black whole more than the crystal blue I remembered from my childhood. His body was stiff. Ready to attack on the ready.   
“So it’s time? Rhas is finally sending him after me.” it was a dark thought, but it was realistic. When Damian’s resurrection had finally reached us. We all knew that if we were to see him. It be as his grandfather’s solider. That was till now. There was no way Rhas would send the kid by himself to Bruce. He’d make it as a final standoff. To end this war he and Bruce were in. The kid I saw in the alleyway though. He was a street kid. I could sense it off him. He didn’t want to fight, but he would. The only thing he had to link him to his grandfather was a dagger but the insignia looked like someone was trying to rub it off.  
“No, Bruce.” Bruce’s eyes snapped up to me. The question was clear on his face. What did I mean? What happened?   
“Bruce, the kid, he’s here in the city and by the looks of it. Has been here for a bit. He’s a street kid. Made a posy for himself and everything. I don’t think he’s here with his grandfather.” My words took a minute to actually get through to him. Bruce looked like he was about to fall out. In the back ground I saw Alfred actually collapse in a chair.   
“What does this mean?” Bruce’s voice was weak now. He was lost.   
“I’m going after the kid. If he’s out there alone, then he’s in more danger than ever.”   
“How did you even find him?”  
“Honestly it was kinda just a happy accident. I was out, patrolling and he and his gang got caught in the middle of it.” I left out that a man may have tried to take Damian with the grave with him. Best not to let him know that his kid was once again in life or death situation. He took my answer with another nod. It seemed that he was just trying to wrap his head around. He looked at the monitors again. Looking at the location my jacket was. The place where his son would be. I can understand his hesitancy. If this wasn’t Damian after all. It would just serve to destroy him that much more. But if it was, this would be short of a miracle. Something that doesn’t happen for us without some kind of hitch. There’s always a heavy price for us to be happy.   
“I’m going to go see him tomorrow. Figured if I catch him during the day, it be less frightening.”  
“I’m coming with then.”   
“Ok Bruce” I turned my attention back to the monitors too, but kept an eye on Bruce. His face was set I heavy lines again and his eyes had a faraway look in them. I stood there for a bit. Just soaking in the awkward atmosphere.   
“Whelp, I suppose I should be going. See ya tomorrow!” I spun on my heels and began to mosey my way down to the   
“Wouldn’t you like to spend the night Master Jason? It is quite late and you will only be coming back in an hour or so to leave with Master Bruce.” Alfred offered me a room, but I honestly hadn’t spent a night at the manor since before Bruce tried to get me to talk about the pits.   
“Nah Alfred. I’ve still got some work I need to do tonight. I’ll be back soon.” I waved him off. I hopped back on my bike and started the engine. I spun it around and rode out of the cave. The less time I spent there was better anyway. I couldn’t wait to see how this all played out in a few hours. We would need to call Dick and Tim tomorrow to let them know everything. Also the girls to let them know the situation.   
To think in a few hours, we all would have our baby bird back and we were never going to let him out of the nest again.   
Well that was chapter 6. I wanted to focus on Jason this one cause he is my Favorite Robin and by far one of the most tragic ones in the Bat family. Well, to me at least. Anyway, I need to clear somethings out. No this story is not on hiatus. Nor do I plan on stop updating anytime soon. I was simply saying that there are other ideas I have for stories surround Batman that won’t be able to put into this story because it’s not the same story or it just won’t fit. To remind people that I have more free time during the weekend because I have work and school during the week. I will update more during the weekend more often while the week will probably be limited to a chapter. I do try to keep my chapter not too long and not too short. Any way thank you for reading this and if there are any questions please comment or message me.   
Walls


	8. ch. 7

The bustling of the bus station drowned out the buzzing I still had in my head. It felt like I was in a fog. I was just letting my body guide me to my survival. I heard from the overhead speakers calling for a change in schedule. I looked up at the schedule board to see the glowing destinations and departing times. I had to figure out which one of these glowing names would be heading off to. I would have to sneak on a bus so I had to figure which one I could sneak on first without anyone really questioning it. It would have to be very crowed and hectic. I saw a group of high schools walking around the station, all of them palling around kind of rough. They had managed to knock over a stand, gathering a good amount of attention. They could work. If I managed to sneak up behind them when they were going to load on the bus then I could hitch a ride to wherever they were going.   
The group of boys walked out of the station with me not far behind them.   
“So we need to be back by 11 to catch our next bus.” One of them explained to the rest. They were catching a pretty late bus.  
“We can sleep on there and be in New York City by midday tomorrow.” Looks like I’m going back to New York. I followed them all the way back to the main part of the city where they busied themselves looking at the monuments. Considering I was just doing this yesterday I went to go sit down on a bench not too far away. I needed to keep them in sight.   
I sat down and looked up to the cloudy sky. It always seemed to be dark here. I kind of missed the sun. Missed being able to feel warm. The wind hit my side and I felt the absence of my coat. Red Hood had taken it and I had thrown away his. Leaving me with no protection from the cold that seemed to possess Gotham. Sitting down gave me a moment to let everything really sink in. the cloud around my mind was finally lifting. I had lost everything again. I had gained something I felt like I never had and it was something that I never knew I missed out on and now it was gone. That was horrible. I will just take this as a lesson. I must be more careful. I must be willing to keep movie. I can’t hide. I need to run. For ever running. Until I’m strong enough to elude the League.   
I looked up to see the street now full and loads of people walking around. All of them smiling and laughing. It was such a normal scene, unfortunately it was destroyed by the large explosion that rang to the other side of the street of me. It blew pieces of steel and concrete everywhere. People were scattered. Screams were ringing in every corner. Crying for help or their love ones. I covered my face with my sleeve and squinted my eyes. I could barely see anything through the smoke that had suffocated the street. I got up and saw almost half the people that only moments ago were just enjoying their day on the ground. Some trying to get while other remained still. I hunched over and tried to walk forward. It seemed like there was no end to the smoke.   
As I was walking I felt something brush against my leg. I looked down and saw a man that was dressed in a suite. He looked up at me with pleading eyes. I looked over his body and saw that his leg was mangled and his other arm was bent in two places at odd angles. He was suffering. I couldn’t leave him here. I ben down and turned him over on his back. He gave a pitiful yelp, but was ignored in preference that I would be able to drag him with me. Once he was on his back I grabbed the scruff of his suites jacket and began to drag him behind me. I went left thinking that at one point id reach a clearing. Along the way I felt another odd brush against my leg. I looked down and saw a young women with red hair. She wore a now tattered yellow zip up. I just nodded my head and did the same proses I did with the man. I continued on my way with two people dragging behind me. When I saw that some of the smoke was starting to lighten up I knew that I was almost at the end. I could still hear people yelling for help, but now the sound of sirens and police officers giving commands accompanied them. When I saw the outline of police cruisers I almost cried out. Finally we were out.   
I dropped the two of them and fell to my knees trying to catch my breathe. The smoke had gotten into my lungs and I was wheezing out the dust. I felt my knees dig into the pavement. I leaned forward and supported myself on one arm. My other arm clutching my chest. I was trying to still catch my breath when I heard movement above me. I glanced up to see literally the last person, besides my grandfather. The Red Hood toward over me. Behind him was another man. Someone younger though. Dressed in red also but sporting an “R” on his chest.   
“You threw out my Jacket, you little shit.” Red hood was so eloquent. I wanted to respond to him, but my lungs wanted to come up my throat. I hacked up a nice size of flem covered with dust. EW. I looked up at Hood and stood up. My breathing coming back to normal.   
“Do you have my jacket?” I really shouldn’t be picking a fight, but I was honestly just done with today. I just wanted to leave and a fucking bomb had to go off.   
“Yeah, I do. Why don’t you come with me to get it?”  
“Art you a hero or something? There’s a bomb that just went off. Why don’t you go and save the people still in the cloud of chaos?” I jabbed my thumb backwards towards the sound of yelling.   
“Don’t you worry about them? We have someone taking care of it. Now come on. Make this easy.” Hood was taking predatory steps towards me.   
“Don’t be afraid. We are just going to take you somewhere, where you can be checked up.” The guy behind hood finally spoke up. I couldn’t get a good look of him. Most of my attention was on Hood and his ever advancement on me. I took a deep breathe in my lungs. Filling them as much as I could before I dashed back into the smoke. Going as fast as I could. Trying to get to the other side. Hopefully id loose them in the chaos. I heard Hood let out a cuss and the man behind him call for me to come back. Then the pounding of feet. I tried to keep my steps as quiet as I could. Using the cover of the smoke to aide me. I heard them talking to each other. Saying that I had to be around. I crouched down behind a piece of broken off wall. Staying as still as I could I listened for any sign of them moving. Finally I heard them run in the opposite direction. I held still for another minute before I stood up. I had to try and take a breath in. the smoke had yet dissipated which I was thankful and hateful for. I crouched down again and began to stealthily make my way back to the other side of the explosion.   
I was about to reach the edges of the dust when I sensed something behind me. I spun around and ducked just in time for a hand to reach right above me. It was only due to instincts that I was able to dodge the next as aunts of attacks. The figure was dressed in all black and was covered by the dust. It was like he was just a black hole in the middle of it all.   
I leaped back, out of reach of the shadow. That when I saw the man that had been giving me some kind of protection for the past few months. Even if he wasn’t aware of it. The man that I defiantly did want to come cross in this city. The man that I was actively trying to avoid. Batman. The literally nightmare for my grandfather. Shit.   
I sized him up as he did me. I remained close to the ground as he stood tall now. I wanted to turn and run, but I had a feeling that he’d be on me before I could make it out of the smoke. The man stood at a frigid height of 6’5 and was as intimidating as a shark with his dark arura. He continued to stare down at me. Inspecting me. I let him. I know I don’t look my best. Hel I look like every other street rat in this damned city. Maybe he won’t even think twice about me. Of course that not how it worked out. He took a step forward and held his hand out to me. I stared at him incredibly.   
“What?” I asked. I stared at his hand and then looked up to him. He was smiling down at me now. It was a gentle one that put me at ease a bit, but my training was kicking in. Batman was a dangerous man. Not only for his fighting skills, but also his intelligence. For all I knew, this could be another kind of play to lure me in some kind of torture situation. If they asked, I gladly tell them what I knew about the league, but that was not how things go.   
“It’s a hand shake. You’re supposed to grab my hand with yours and shake it.” I know he was joking and that it was a simple act, but I needed to actually process it. I stared at him for a moment and loosely reached my hand out to him. He grabbed it in a strong grip and shake it once. I loosened my grip and so did he. I tried to pull my hand back to my side, but he held on. Granted his grip was still loose enough for me to wrestle it out of his. I chose not to for the moment and he seemed elated.  
“I saw the two people that you saved earlier. They told me that you saved them. Good job there son.” I was a bit flattered that Batman was praising me. I looked down to the ground in embarrassment.   
“It was the right thing to do.” Batman just smiled more at my response. That when I remembered that I was currently being hunted down by his people.   
“Uhhh, I need to get going. You know, need to leave the area of a disaster. I’m sure you have some bad guy to beat up and lock up. Good luck and such.” I tried to make a quick escaped. I was about to turn and run off when his grip on my hand tightened. I should have just taken it back. His grip was punishing. It squeezed it in a grip so hard that it felt like it was cutting off the circulation. I yanked on my hand hard, but he didn’t let up. I grabbed the offending arm and twisted it as hard as I could. It dint even faze him though. He just bent down a bit and used his other arm to snatch the one I was using to pry off his hand that was still gripping me. I grunted with the force I exerted trying to yank my hand away.   
“I’ve got him, Hood. Red Robin, meet me back at the cave. The police can handle the rest here.” Batman must have had a com link in his helmet. Damn it. I should have known that he was just trying to capture me.  
“Let me go!” I yelled at him. He just shook his head and went to grab something behind his back. I saw a small device that would most likely incapacitate me when applied.   
“Damian, this is for your own safety. Its time you come home.” I ignored him. I wasn’t going to back to the league. I needed to fight him now.  
“IM NOT GOING BACK TO GRANDFATHER! SO FUCK OFF!” I screamed as I hurled my body up. Flipping it over so I could kick his head and knock him back. He grip slacked quite a bit. Enough for me to pull my hands out of his grip and fling myself away from him. The moment I was able to gain some sublimes of balance, I sprung up and dashed away from him. I made my escape to the edges of the smoke when a blinding pain hit my head.   
A loud thunk! And I was on the ground. I tried to lift my head up but m vision was going out. I heard voices and yelling. Then a pair of warm, gentle hands lifting me up from the ground. I tried to lift my head, but I found that a painful ringing that echoed through my skull was sharp enough to take me down. I was in and out for a short time before I was completely out.   
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I heard the telltale sound of a pulse machine beeping beside me. Where was I? The hospital? No. I was captured by batman and his merry group of fuck ups. I was laying down against something soft. Must be a bed. Maybe I was in some kind of infirmary. I stayed as still has I could trying to concentrate on what was going around me. I heard voices in the distant. The sounded like they were arguing with one voice. I wanted to try and listen more intently, but my head felt like it was splitting open. So I let myself load for a bit. In the limbo of sleeping and awareness. When I heard a door slam I opened my eyes for the first time and was greeted by a bright burning light. It was situated above me.   
I sat up as gently as I could. Trying not to rattle my skull too much. I put my hand to my head and felt stitches go across my left side. That when I noticed bandages wrapped around my wrist form where Batman had held me. Damn. I had a number done on me. I looked around and saw that I was lying on some kind of gurney. I had a pulsenator on my left hand and an oxygen mask on. My clothes had also been changed. I also felt distinctly less dirty. Like someone had taken a washcloth to me. I was now wearing loose gray sweat pants that were a bit big on me and a white long sleeved shirt.   
It looked like I was alone for the time being. I tried to get out of bed the best I could, but I still felt a bit dizzy. One of them must have knocked me good. When I was finally on my feet I began to move. I needed to find my way out of where ever I was. I left the small infirmary to see something I didn’t expect. There were cars that lined the walls. Weapons that I could only imagine that were hung from the ceiling. A giant screen that I could only assume was a futuristic version of what was out to the public that was mounted on top of stairs. Trophies of past villains that were on display. I was in the bat cave. Like the literally Bat cave.   
I was in awe of it all. This was where the legend came to do his business. This was where he was born and where he bred the next generation of heroes. I was taking it all in. trying to soak up everything. My jaw must be on the floor.   
I snapped out of my awe though. Granted this was an amazing sight. I needed to leave. There had to be some kind of underground exit. How else would he drive he bat mobile. I saw a stair case that led down to what looked like a garage. I was tip toeing down it when I heard hurried steps. I looked back and saw an elderly man checking the bed I had just vacated. He was shifting around. Swinging his body left and right. I let my body fall down the stair case. Letting the incline hide me. I watched him as he began to run across the cave. Towards a phone that would more than likely alert everyone that I was awake and trying to escaped. I had to stop him.   
I stood up as fast as I could, but the momentum made my head spin. I groaned and fell back down. It was enough to catch the old man’s attention though. He stopped and looked over in my direction. He gave a panicked asked and ran to me. It only took him a few seconds to clear the cave to me. He was bending down for me and trying to get me to sit up, but my head was still spinning.   
“Damian, you must not leave the infirmary till you are cleared. You are still hurt.” I felt his hands smooth my hair back. Getting a look at his face I saw a withered face. His eyes held warmth and comfort and his hands felt soft.   
“How do you know my name?” now that it occurred to me. He and Batman both had referred to me as my birth name and I had not told anyone what it was. I’m sure Rhas wouldn’t have told anyone about me. Least of all his enemy. So how? The old man didn’t respond. He just brought my head forward and cradled it against his shoulder.   
“You need to stay here young man. It is my duty to make sure that you stay put and heal.” I felt bad for what I had to do. I feel like this man didn’t want to do me any harm. I felt it, but still feared what Batman would do to me. And rather than take the chance. I’m better off running.   
“If you were supposed to keep me here, then you would have been better off calling for back up when you had the chance.” A quick jab to his neck and the old man falling unconscious. “I am sorry for this.”   
When the man was under I let him slide off me. We both slid down the stairs in a slow fashion so neither of us would be hurt. When I was sure he wasn’t going to be getting up, I got up. I began to look for the exit in the garage. Luckily it was just at the farthest end of it. I had to hack the computer to open the door, but the moment I did I regretted it. I had no jacket, no shoes, and no backpack. I’d be walking out with nothing. I had no choice though. I’d have to find a way. I took one more look back at the cave and felt a deep longing inside of me. I wanted to go back and just imagine what it would be like if I was lucky enough to be part of that life. I wasn’t though. I was the son of a demon. I was a killer and nothing more. I couldn’t hope to be like them yet. I still needed to prove that I wasn’t a monster. To my grandfather, to the world and to myself. I’m not a demon. I know I’m not. Just need to prove that.


	9. jason ch. 8

Jason 7.  
I walked around the manor’s vast amount of land. I had sped off from the manor to just do some last minute searching around me area. I had heard rumors of a coming attack from scarecrow. He was silent lately and had not made any attempts to on my life lately. That was usual a sign that he was up to something.   
I had finished that when the sun was just starting to peek over the buildings. I decided then it would be best if I were to head back. I took off my uniform and helmet and went back to Wayne Manor. I didn’t bother going through the bat cave this time. I still had some time to kill. The Wayne manor had acres upon acres of land that was surrounded by wooden areas. I always found walking around the place relaxing. It was always quiet. I could let my mind wander here. I could only think about one thing though. Damian Wayne. He was living on the streets now. And the way he was acting I would guess he didn’t want anything to do with us. So that meant that chances are. Damian did have his mind wiped by Rhas, but something happened. Something where Damian still broke away from him. Ha! Little rat is still too much for the Al ghuls. I blame Bruce’s genes for that. I also like to think he got a bit of rebellious streak from me. I mean, we weren’t blood, but if anything, he got his insane ability to say fuck off from me. If there were anything to take away from this family. It would be that.   
I looked up and saw the sun now shining through the morning’s fog. Time to go back for Bruce. I went through the back door, through the terrace and went down to the cave through the manor. It had been year since I had been here and nothing had changed. The pictures of all the past kids still hung of the walls. A considerable amount of them of Damian.   
When got down to the cave I saw Bruce standing by the computer with Tim sitting. Typing away.   
“Hey Bruce. Tim.” I greeted them. I saw Tim nod at me and then go back to his toy. Damian’s tracker still up.  
“Jason. We took some DNA from the jacket you brought back and matched it up with the one we have on file of Damian. It was a match.” Bruce spoke fast and for the first time in a while I saw his eyes gain a bit of life in them that had faded.   
“Knew it was him. I mean who else can annoy me within 2 seconds of meeting them.” I joked and I heard Tim snort a bit.   
“So should we go and grab him?” Bruce nodded and Tim pushed himself from the monitor. We geared up and went to the location the tracker had him at.   
It took us to an alley not too far from where I saw last night. I looked around trying to see where could have been hiding, but saw no clear spot. Tim walked up to a dumpster and opened it  
“Tim don’t think he is going to be in there.”  
“No, but he ditched your Jacket in it. Probably best to have just followed him to his spot rather than trust that he would keep it.” Tim held up my now grime cover Jackets. The little shit threw it out the moment he was out of sight.   
“That shit. That’s my favorite one and he throws it out.”   
“Come on. He can’t be far.” Bruce redirected my rage, but the moment I get him alone I’m making him clean it.   
Tim threw it at me and I almost gagged at the stench. I picked a fleck of who knows what to flicked at Tim. I threw a glare at me and followed behind Bruce. We came to a row of warehouses that were bored up and few miles up.  
“It be best if we split up for now. Cover more ground. Tim you and Jason get the west and ill cover the east. Call in if anything comes up.” Bruce dictated. I smirked at Tim and he crinkled his nose at me.   
Tim and I walked down the pier and I volunteered to look in the warehouse off on the side as he took another one. We separated and I had to climb all the way up to a window to get in. I had a flash of a memory of doing something very similar when my mom would have a bad night and id have to be out of the house for the night. When I was in, I landed with a soft thud. I looked up and saw that the place was occupied, but it was empty for the time. A trash can that looked like it was used to house fires and old cans of soup were stocked off to the side. I idly kicked a can and watched it roll off. This might be where he bunks for the night. It was odd though that no one was here. He was with some kids last night. What could they be doing this early? I got my answer when I felt a presence behind me. I stiffened and swung myself around. The weight of my guns a healthy reminder that I had an upper hand.   
A girl stood behind me with a pipe raised above her head. “What are you doing here?” She asked me. She stood just a few feet from me and was obviously a street rat. He clothes hung off her and she her face was smudged from the dirt on the ground she slept on. This must be her little hide out.   
“I’m looking for someone. A boy. About aye high and probably pretty rude. Seen him?” I figured I should ask her if she knew anything. Chances are she ran in the circles that Damian must be in. she narrowed her eyes at me and sniffed.   
“What about it?”  
“There’s a boy that went missing a while ago and I’ve been looking for him.” She clenched her jaw tight and her grip on the pipe tightened.   
“Are you looking for Dami?” got him.  
“So you know the kid. Great! Now can you just show me where he is? I’m sure he be happy to be brought back.” He eyes widened and her nostrils flared. I knew she was getting defensive.   
“What if he doesn’t want to?”  
“He doesn’t really have much of a choice here.” That’s when I felt a splitting pain in the back of my head. My vision went white for a moment and I fell forward. As I laid there I felt a hand flip me over and someone check my nose.  
“Jesus Jerold! You could have killed him!”  
“HE HAS TO BE THE GUY CHASING DAMI! IF WE DON’T STOP HIM THEN DAMI IS GOING TO GET HURT!”  
“He’s breathing. But he’s going to be down for a bit. Which is good.”  
“What do we do now? We have a man who can probably kill us if we ever left him.”  
“Why don’t we dump in the bay with his hands tied?”  
“Woah man. Dark.”  
“Well chances are. If he scared Dami enough to make him run then we shouldn’t take any chances.”  
“That might be for best. We will just need to pack up and leave the area.”  
“Oh and never talk about this ever again?”  
“Well yeah! How else do we deal with this?”  
“With a bit more thought?!?”  
“Oh yeah? And with what time?”  
“We can’t just kill him!”  
Ok these kids are obviously way over there head. I pressed the distressed signal and hoped that Tim got here before they decided that bashing my head was in their best interest.   
I heard the window smash open not a moment later and Tim came rolling in. he skidded to a halt with his baton out. The kids yelled and grabbed their pipes. Tim took a moment to observe the situation before he started to snicker.   
“You got taken out by them Hood? Really?”   
“I got jumped!” I yelled at him and immediately regretted it. The pain I my head was staggering.   
“Alright kiddies. How bout we just talk about this. Believe it or not, we don’t want to hurt you. Probably contrary to what that thing has said.” Tim you dick.   
The kids exchanged looks and took a step back from me. Ha! Knew they didn’t have it in them to kill me.   
“We agree, but on the condition that we get to go and if you do one thing that we feel is threatening we get to dump chump here into the river.”  
“How bout I let you go and you still dump him after we talk.” Dick!   
One kid snorted and the others cracked a smile.   
“I’m looking for my little brother. His name is Damian and this idiot managed to find him last night.”   
“We don’t know Damian but that might be Dami. He never mentioned any family though.” the one that hit me in the head spoke up. He was shushed by a boy that looked like he was 15.   
“There was an incident where he was taken from us by some bad people. We have been trying to get him back, but haven’t been able to find him.”   
“We don’t know where he is. He ran off this morning” The girl spoke up now.   
“Now please leave. That is all we know.”  
“And take this as well.” Another boy who was standing off to the side nudged me with his foot towards Tim. I tried to grab his leg but he just jerked it back. The little one gave me a smack to the leg with his pipe.   
“Ok. Ok. Let me just grab the piñata and we will be out.” Tim grabbed my collar and hefted me up. I stood and gave my best dagger eyes at the little one. He just waved his pipe at me in return. Tim didn’t wait for me before he began to climb out the window.   
“Come on Hood before I play hit the piñata too!” with one last glare I vaulted into the now shattered window. The moment I touched down though Tim lost it. He gave out Pfft sound and bent over. Barely trying to muffle it.   
“Yeah! Laugh it up!”   
“I’m sorry, but to think you got your butt handed to you by a bunch of half-starved kids is really sad, but weird to see”  
“Well, let get back on track. Damian isn’t with them. So what now?”  
“We message Bruce and shut down any way of out the city before he can leave it.” Tim was already on the phone calling Bruce. I leaned back and lit a cigarette. Tim did a dramatic hand wave and wandered off. I looked back at the warehouse and couldn’t help but think of how Damian must have crawled in there during a cold night. I remembered my days of a street rat with little peace. It was hell out there and nothing id wish upon anyone. Let alone someone who was my brother. I didn’t like the thought of him going through what I had. We already shared way too much in common. This world doesn’t need another Jason Todd. It needs its Damian Wayne that gave everyone hell, but still managed to make everyone love him.   
Tim was still talking to Bruce on the phone. It sounded like Bruce wasn’t taking the news well and Tim was trying to talk him down from coming to the street kids himself to interrogate them. I sometimes feel bad for Tim. He had to keep himself going while everyone around him lost it. He lost a brother too. Granted he and Damian weren’t on the best of terms at first, but I mean you can’t be family if you don’t try to kill Tim at some point or another. It seemed though they got through it after Damian went to work with the Titans. He caused his usual hell, but he stuck to Tim and Tim got to be a big brother and have someone actually look to him for just support and try to support him in turn. When Damian died though, Tim lost a little brother too. He was as energetic anymore. Granted he was really never hyper, but he lost a bit of pep to his step. He was just business. Hopefully, now he’d get some rest knowing that his brother was going to be in a safe place again. I know I will.  
I was brought out of my thoughts by an impressive bust in the distance. Tim spun around and saw the destruction off in the distance. Whelp looks like Scare crow finally came out. I was wondering when that was going to happen. I heard Bruce cuss over the phone. Yelling that there wasn’t time for this. I shrugged and Tim said he would meet Bruce there so they could wrap this up quickly.  
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When we arrived it the whole place was in chaos. There was smoke everywhere and the dust was suffocating. A part of a building was blown off and scarecrows posy was running around. The police were already on scene and trying to evacuate the area, but behind the cloud there were bound to be more people. Tim and I were about to run in when a figure began to form in the dust. It was small, but it looked like it was dragging something.   
I couldn’t stop the smile that stretched across my face. The demon was here. He was dragging some guy and a girl out of the chaos. When he reached a clearing he set them down and fell forward himself. Having a coughing fit and spewing clumps of wet dust. He wrapped his arm around himself and let his head for a moment trying to breathe. Behind me Tim had frozen in place. Guess he was still not convinced that it was him.   
Damian looked up and his eyes flashed for a moment when he saw my hood. “You threw out my jacket you little shit.” He wasn’t even phased by me. Instead he looked down again and hocked a huge loogie on the pavement. Tim shifted behind me and took a step forward. His instincts to make sure that the kid was breathing alright coming in.   
“Do you have my jacket?”   
“Yeah I do. Why don’t you come with me to get it?” I knew he wasn’t going to come that easily.   
“Arnt you a hero or something? There’s a bomb that just went off. Why don’t you go save the people still in the cloud of chaos?” he jabbed his finger behind him to make a point.   
“Don’t worry about them. We have someone taking care of it. Now come on. Make this easy.” Batman had to be wrapping it up by now. With the help of police he must have most people out by now and scare crow would have disappeared after he set the bombs off.   
“Don’t be afraid. We are just going to take you somewhere you can you can be checked up.” Red robin said behind me. The kid seemed to think about it for a moment, but not long enough to let any open of a quiet kidnap happen. He sprang backwards. Sprinting through the cloud. It was almost instantaneous that me ad Tim were after him. It was almost impossible to see anything. Me and Tim stopped about half way through and tried to listen.   
Nothing. “Shit!” I cussed and Tim called for me to follow him.   
“Bats we found Damian on scene. He was dragging people out of it, but we lost him in the smoke. Keep your eyes out for him.” Tim Radioed Batman again while I kept looking around. All the living people that were caught in the explosion were moved already. So the place was silent.   
Tim and I looked around a bit more before we decided to track back to where we saw him first and try to find I’m that way. When we got back we heard Bruce yelling and a much higher pitched voice screaming back. Damian had managed to get himself free from Bruce and was running off again. I had to act quickly or we would lose him again. I did the only thing that made sense. I smacked him over the head with a piece of broken concrete. It hit his head and he went down.   
Bruce and Tim ran to his side. Asking if he was ok, but the kid just made some gurgling noises.  
“Jason! You could have killed him!” Bruce yelled at me.  
“What other options do I have? He was going to get away again and this sway we don’t look like psychopaths trying to steal a kid.” besides it was a little pay back for what his pals did to me. Bruce gently picked the kid up and cradled him against his chest. It made for a nice scene.   
Bruce walked about to the bat mobile he had parked in the alley. Bruce gently putt he kid in the passenger seat. The kid curled up and laid his head down. Bruce shut the door and turned to us.  
“Meet back at the cave.”  
“Ok. Be there in 20.”  
Bruce nodded and walked around the car and hoped in. when he was seated in side I could see how his hand went to Damian’s head and laid on top. The bat mobile pulled away and drove off. That left me and Tim to get back.   
“Want a ride?” I offered.  
“I wouldn’t trust you not to get me killed on your chopper.” Fair enough.  
“Meet you there.”  
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When we all got back to the cave, Damian was already on the infirmary bed with Alfred happily working over him. Alfred and Bruce were wiping him down with wet rags as a way to get a better view of any other injuries he might have. When me and Tim got close enough I could see that e was very skinny. His hip bones protruded out and he had scratches up and down his body. Other than that and the odd bruise here and there, he was ok. Oher than the nice size bump on his head.   
“How’s he doing?” Tim asked.  
“Hasn’t woken up yet, but I feel that was the intended idea.” Alfred spoke to me.   
“He needs rest. The explosion caused a lot of debris to collect in his lungs.” Bruce said as he threw the rag into a bowl of now dirty water. I felt like he was holding something in. like he was angry about something.   
“Bruce, what’s up? Damian is back and he’s ok.”  
“You think is ok? He’s 20 pounds under weight. He was covered in so much grime that it had taken multiple bowls to get most of it off.”  
“Bruce, he’s ok. Damian is home.”  
“This isn’t is home to him. Not anymore. To him. He has no home.”  
“Then we have to show him it is” Tim ended the argument before it started.   
“Now, that the obvious has been said. Please leave so Master Damian can rest.” Alfred ushered us up the stairs. I looked back and saw that Bruce and Alfred had stopped at the door way to the cave. The both looked down to the infirmary. They didn’t want to leave. None of us really wanted to, but we could hover over him all the time. Besides we had to figure out how to keep him from running away and being taken away. Again.


	10. ch. 8

I had managed to make it pretty far from the cave. It turns out the exit of the bat cave was just another sewer entrance. It was a long time before I actually reached the end and by the time I had actually made my way out of the sewers I was freezing. What little cover I got from being underground though was immediately taken away when I found the opening. The sky was now darkening and the temperature was dropping fast. If I didn’t hurry and find somewhere warm id catch my death.   
I walked a few miles till I was at the bus station again. The place was packed from people trying to get out of the city till it died down to what looked like an evacuation. I took a step inside just to warm up. I looked around and saw a long line of kids around me age getting tagged and given a ticket. What was going on?  
“Dami!?!” I turned around only to be tackled by a familiar weight. I looked up to see a familiar head of dirty blonde hair. I saw three other familiar faces come into my view.   
“Dami! Where have you been?”  
“There were a huge explosion somewhere in the city so they are having a huge evacuation for us”  
“There were people looking for you”  
“We took care of them though”  
“More like I took care of them”  
“Jerold you almost killed one”  
“I did what I had to. Besides what was the alternative?”  
“Let’s not get into this here guys”  
“Right! So Dami you going to slip away with us to another city?”  
What? I didn’t understand what was going on. They were going to move us? Like the homeless to another city? Or just the kids?  
And the fact that hood and batman might have come in contact with them was another worry. I mean obviously they are alright. Randal got off me and hefted me up. That when he saw that I had only pants and a shirt on.  
“Dami! What happened?” he said as he shrugged off his heavier jacket. He still had his layers under neither for protection. When he wrapped it around me I felt his residue body warmth on it still. It sunk into my bones and swept away the chill that had plagued me for the past day.   
“I uhh ran into them. Just got out.” I explained.   
“Come on, let’s get you registered with us. With any luck we will leave a same time. They walked me over to a line where we had to wait. They took my name or at least what I gave them. They took my weight and height. They asked if I was with anyone and that’s when Veronica came in. she said she was 18 and that she was watching out for the four of us while we were out there. The clerk just shook her head and wrote that down. She took down Veronica’s id number and clipped a ticket to me.   
“Once you 5 are in your new city there will be someone there waiting to take you to your housing. Just keep this on you.” And with that we were off. Jerold flipped me hood over my head and everyone else did the same.  
“Keep your hood up till we are out of the city.” I just nodded my head and let myself be cowed off. Veronica led us to a large bus that was already packed with kids that were screaming. She led us up and we all walked down the path to the back where we all packed into a seat. Once we were situated veronica pulled out some granola bars from her bag and handed one to each of us.  
“I grabbed these off the snack table they had in there. Eat up. “Veronica said as she handed me one. Along with a water bottle. She also reached into her bag for a thin blanket and wrapped me up in it. “You need to stay warm Dami. You have no jacket and god only knows how long you were out there.” I let my head hang for a moment. I didn’t have it in me to shrug off sisterly warmth for me right now. Right now I did just want to be warm. I ate the bar robotically and sipped on the water. When I felt that it was enough to get her not to worry about me, I put it down. I wanted to lean back, but were all crammed into a small seat only made to fit two people. Randal and ash sat behind me while Jerold sat next to me and Veronica taking the edge.   
“So where are we going anyway?” I asked. It hadn’t occurred to me where it was I was being shipped off to. Just grateful I was leaving.  
“Some city called Bludhaven. Some people are going off to New York and Chicago, but we are being sent to a half way home in Bludhaven. Said we are going to be set up with a foster home and go to school till we age out.” Ash said. Bludhaven huh? I never really thought of the place. Nothing was really there that was high up on the priority list.   
I felt someone grab my shoulders and pull me back. I saw Randal leaning myself against his chest. He wrapped his arms around me. Ash leaned back on the window and Randal leaned forward on me.  
“We should try to sleep. We don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow when we get there so we should try to rest while we can.” Randal for once said something that I 100% agreed to. I let Randal pull me all the way back and Jerold lean towards me and lay his head down on my stomach. Veronica just leaned back a bit and stayed up. It was cramped and awkward, but everyone seemed to be able to do. Even with the bus over 30 bodies over capacity. Even with the uncertainty of tomorrow. We were ok like this.   
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Bludhaven wasnt that different look from Gotham that I had wanted. It was really warmer. Nor was it any brighter. It was just as bleak as Gotham, but at least it lack the leviathans and Batman. I’m sure I could get used to it.   
When we first got off the bus we had stretched our backs. Getting them to pop back into place. When I had my body back I was ushered by veronica to a lady with a sign that said in bold print “From Gotham?” She must be our foster care attendant. When we got up to her she smiled warmly at all of us and showed us to her van. We all packed in and she introduced herself to us as Roxanne. She would be our foster mother for now on and that she had 6 other children staying with her.  
“That’s quite a lot.” It was an offhand comment.  
“There’s so many children out there that have been left alone on this planet. I just want to make sure they have a fighting chance at life.”   
Roxanne went on after that about what we could expect. We will need to help around the house and go to school and get good grades. That is all she wants from us. That was manageable. When she got to her house it was a small town’s house that looked like it was a two story that was wedge between two others that was just like it. It wasn’t in bad shape, but it was defiantly old. It could use a few fixes here and there and maybe some paint, but it was still good and solid.  
“Alright, grab your bags and come inside and meet the rest.”  
We all followed Roxanne through her front door. It was small and honestly the whole place looked like it was in disarray. Toys and clothes were thrown all around the living room. A small set of stairs led up to the second floor where I could see 3 doors. Roxanne sighed heavily and walked into the living room. The living room had a small couch and an arm chair that was an odd shade of green. The five of us all followed her and then stood awkwardly in the middle of the room.  
“Jeffery! Sally! Jane! The Rest of you come out and meet the new ones!” Roxanne yelled to the ceiling. Not a second later I heard footsteps and loud voices talking and making their way down the stairs. Not a second later I saw 6 kids ranging from 4 to maybe 18. “Didn’t I tell you guys to clean up before I came back?” Roxanne directed her chide at one of the middle children. He just shrugged and took a step back. Roxanne sighed again and went into introducing he kids.   
“This is Jeffery, he’s 18. Now he is in charge when I’m not home and he is, but he works a lot so don’t go bothering him nonsense things. “She introduced the eldest. He was a skinny lanky guy with shaggy brown hair. He had deep purple circles around his eyes.   
“Next up is Sally. She is 16 and she is in high school. She is in charge when Jeffery and I aren’t home, so listen to her. If she says you need to quiet down, you quiet down.” The girl gave a small wave and shook her head. She had her hair up in a tight ponytail and her glasses were crooked.   
“This is Jane. Don’t listen to her. She is going through a phase where she thinks trying to summon demons is a fun idea.” This one was an odd sight. She wore all black with tears in them. She also had makeup caked on her face. She gave a sarcastic smile and curtsied. Roxanna went forward and grabbed the last 3 that were still on the stair case staring at us. They were small.   
“These three here are Isabella, David, and Ben. Now that you know everyone, time to introduce yourselves.”  
“I’m Randall. I’m 15.”  
“I’m Veronica. I’m 16.”  
“Hey. Ash. 15.”  
“Jerold, 14.”  
“Damian, 12.” Ash, Veronica, Randall and Jerold all looked at me. I guess I near told them how old I was. Roxanne nodded at us and started shooing her kid’s ups stairs.   
“This is how it works around here. This house is small and cramped and it just got a whole lot more cramped. So we made a system. There is a boy’s room and a girl’s room. You’re for boys will follow Jerry upstairs to your room and pick a bed. And you young lady will follow Sally up and take yours. Now while you are here I want to make this clear. You will go to school. You will do well in school. You will not cause any trouble. If I get a call from you school saying that one of you got into a fight or something other than praise I will punish you.” Ok I can understand that.  
“Every day after school you will walk with Sally and Jane to the little ones school and you will walk them home. When you get home I have a chart of chores that must be done before you go to bed. After you do your chores you will do your homework. From 9 to 10 you will have a free hour to do whatever you want. But unless you have homework, lights out. The little ones need their sleep. If you have homework you will come down here. Am I clear?” I felt like is as being given orders.   
“Yes Ma’Am.” it was an automatic response, but it made Roxanne smile.   
“Alright then. Jerry, Sally, show them to their beds.” And with that Roxanne went into what I presumed the kitchen. Jerry came up to us and shook all of our hands and then jerked his head to the stairs. I saw Sally go up to Veronica and grab her backpack for her. We went up the narrow stairs and went to the door closest to the stairway. The room was lined with bunk beds. There were 3 sets of them. one bunk bed was occupied with stuffed animals and toys with layers of blankets while the others were empty excepts for one bunk where the bottom bunk was messy and looked like it was just vacated.  
“Those over there are Ben’s and David’s. You guys can take the ones that are empty. I’ll go grab some blankets for your guys, but umm ground rules. Keep your bunk clean and made in the morning. Roxanne doesn’t like us to leave them unmade. Uhh no eating in bed cause we had an issue with crumbs falling below. Clothes are kept in the closet. We each get two drawers for our stuff. Also, I know that Roxanne already said this, but lights out mean lights out. I don’t get off work till 10 and I walk home so I don’t get home till 11 so when I get home I’m pretty tired and I need to be up by 5 the next morning to be off. So just stick to rule.” Jeffery explained to us.   
“Ok. Umm, do you know when we will being starting school?” Randal asked. He actually seemed to be looking forward to that.  
“Yea, you guys are going to be starting this coming Tuesday. So you have 4 days to get used to things around here before that starts.” Jerry said as he walked out the door and down the hall. Randal and Ash both went to the open bunk bed and threw their back packs on the beds. I walked over to the last bed that was open. I shrugged off Randal’s jacket and threw it at him. He caught it.  
“You can keep it Dami. Until we can get you a new one.” He tossed it back to me.  
“Thanks Randal. I’ll give it back when I can get a new one.” I threw it up on the top bunk. It was situated over Jerry’s. At that moment Jerry came back with a couple of blankets and towels.   
“Ok so here are a couple of blankets for your beds. And uh I got some towels so you guys can go shower before dinner. Roxanne told me to grab your clothes and throw them in the wash. So you guys go wash up and I’ll go do that.” Ash and Randall went up to Jerry and grabbed them and threw them on their beds.   
“There’s a bathroom down the hall and another down stairs. “ Jerry provided before they could ask him. They gave him their clothes they kept in their bags and then undressed. They walked out with towels covering them. When they left he turned to me, waiting for me to hand over my belonging. I only had   
Randal’s coat and the thin garments I was wearing. When I undressed and handed them to me he raised a brow. “This all you got?” I nodded and looked away. Now staring at a wall that had pictures the little ones obviously drew. “You can have some of my old clothes for now. Once we get more settled in we can see about getting a few shirts and pants that fit you, but for now you’re going to have to do with my hammy downs.” He walked out the door after that. I was only in a towel now.  
I climbed onto my bunk and began to make my bed. I felt Ben and David’s eyes on me as I did so. I looked up and they kept staring. “What?” I asked. They looked at each other and hopped off their bed.   
“What’s your name?” Ben asked.  
“Damian.”  
“What do you like to do?” David asked as he climbed up and stood on the ladder. It took me a moment to think of something I like to do. I hadn’t done much of anything I particularly liked. I do remember having an art tutor at one point and I really enjoyed him.   
“I like to draw I guess.” I gave out.  
“Me too! I like to draw in my art class.” Ben Said as he began to rock back and forth.   
“Yeah, we painted those over there. See?” David said he pointed to the wall I saw earlier.   
“They are very nice.” I said. I didn’t really know how to interact with them, but my answer seemed to satisfy them. They began to talk amiably with each other. Jerry came back after a minute and just laid down in his bed. The two boys went down to him to talk to him, but he just waved them off and they crawled back to me. When Ash and Randal came back, jerry said that our clothes we almost done. So they sat down on their bottom bunk of their beds and they would put in a word or so in the hyperactive conversation.   
It was my turn to go shower and I was looking forward to it. I honestly couldn’t remember the last time I was able to shower. When I walked down the hallway I overheard the girls talking to Veronica. Asking her questions about what kind of subjects she liked. Apparently Veronica had a liking for computers.   
When I found the bathroom, I closed the door and stripped. I turned on the shower and almost squealed when I felt the hot water hit my back. I felt my hair dampen and I just had to stand there for a moment. I soaked up the heat and let the pounding water message my scalp and back. I found some shampoo or soap to wash out the last few layers of grime on my body. I saw trails of dirt wash down the drain. I only got out when I saw the water go from brown to clear. When I got out I stood in front of the foggy mirror. I wiped it and saw my reflection. I looked tired. My eyes had deep circles and my face was pale.   
I didn’t like how I looked. This wasn’t how I was supposed to look. My eyes were supposed to look green not this dull color. My skin was tan, not this sickly white. I felt sick. I had thought I was holding up well, but I was dying and I didn’t even know it.   
I tore myself away from mirror and ran a brush through my hair. I got out of the bathroom and went back to my bunk. When I got back I saw that Ash and Randal were dressed and their clothes looked clean. I didn’t know that Randal wore a yellow shirt. I thought it was green. I went to my bunk and saw a pair of clothes I didn’t recognize. I looked down from my bunk to Jerry’s.  
“Your clothes are too thin for this weather and honestly they looked like they were from a hospital. So just take those. I know they are baggy and going to hand off you but they will have to do.” Jerry explained and then went back to laying down, but he now was reading from a book. I saw the title was Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy. It sounded odd.   
I grabbed the clothes and just threw them on. They hung off me, but they were clean and didn’t small bad at all. I climbed up on the bed and waited to see what would happen next. There was light conversation until I heard Roxanne yelling for everyone to come down for dinner. Jerry flipped his book close and stood up.   
“Come on, time for dinner.” Jerry waited for Ben and David to go to the door before he waved for the three of us to follow after them. On our way down we made a line in the hallway and went down the stairs. I saw Veronica behind us. She placed her hands on my shoulders and held me as we made our way down. When we made it to the dining room there was chairs that lined a median sized table. All the chairs were squeezed together. They were mismatched and looked rickety but there were enough for all of us. The table was filled with plates of spaghetti and a loaf of garlic bread. Jerry went to sit down in one of the chairs and the boys followed him. Ash and Randal followed suite with some hesitancy. Veronica did the same with the girls. I decided to sit down next to Jerry and wait to see what would happen next.   
Roxanne walked in that moment. She looked at all of us and gave a pleasant noise. “Good to see you five managed to clean up properly.” She looked over each of us and then stopped at me. “Those are Jerry clothes.”  
“Yes, I didn’t have anything to wear that is appropriate so he gave some of his old ones” I explained.  
“I see. I also noticed you are barefooted. Is there a reason for that?” I didn’t really know how to answer that one. I mean, is there a good reason for that.   
“He was mugged when we were in Gotham. They took everything from him.” Veronica explained.   
“I’m very sorry for that, Young man. When we get the chance we will buy you some new shoes, but till then you’re going to have to do with Jerry’s old things.”  
“That’s fine ma’am. Thank you ma’am.”  
“I love a boy with manners. Now why don’t we start eating.” And with that everyone started digging in. the spaghetti was excellent. It was the most I’ve eaten in a long time. I felt so full that I had to sit back at one point. I only made it half through before I was full and even then I kept going. Or at least tried to. I felt sick but satisfied. I washed everything down with a glass of milk and sat back and looked at everyone else. Roxanne ate her food with a quiet ease as she listened to the conversations around the table. Jane was explaining to Veronica about some band she liked and why they were good. Jerry was talking to Ash and Randal about what they liked better between the superheroes. Apparently the flash was a favorite. The little ones turned to me randomly to ask me questions.   
“What do you draw?”   
“I haven’t really been able to draw in a while. I don’t think I’d be any good anymore.”  
“Now Damian, don’t say that. I’m sure you are still very good at it.” Roxanne said to me. I looked at her and she smiled down at me.   
“Maybe.” I shrugged.   
“We can draw after we clean up!”  
“Yeah, we can go to the living room and draw.”  
“Roxanne can Damian draw with us?”  
“After you guys do the dishes.”  
Apparently that was what I was going to be doing after this. I felt a little excited at the thought of trying to draw again. I don’t think I’ve been able to pick up a pencil since before I died.   
After everyone was finished we all got up. I stood there and just tried to see where we were going. I looked around and saw Jerry pick up is plate and go into the kitchen. I did the same and followed his lead. I went to the sink with my plate like him and washed it. After that I watched to see what else I could do. Everyone went into the kitchen and Sally began to dictate jobs. I was told to go and sweep the kitchen and when I was done I was to go and dry the pots and pans that jerry was currently washing.   
I do so and then stood back and waited for everyone else to finish. Ash and Randal were given the job of moping the floor so they were the last ones out. But at that point Ben, David and Isabella were on me about drawing with them. They asked Roxanne for permission to go to the living room and she told them yes just to be sure to be ready for bed.   
They put me on the couch with them and David ran up to his room and came back with a stack of blank paper and a box of colored pencils and crayons.   
“We can use these, but we need to clean them up when we are done.”   
I sat done on the floor with them to get closer to the table. In the back ground I heard Veronica and Jerry talk about us and how it was nice that we were drawing together. He said something low and she gave a breathy laugh. After that though Veronica went upstairs to check on Randal and Ash who went upstairs earlier to listen to the CD that Jane was going on about in their room, while Sally said something about having to study for a test.   
I spent the night sitting down and watching David and Ben go around talking about how they were trying to draw a dinosaur while Isabella was drawing a horse. I listened to them quietly for a while till they pushed a piece of paper to me and a pencil. I didn’t know what to draw.   
“What should I draw?”  
“mmmmm. Draw a dog.” Isabella said.  
“No! Draw a dragon!”   
I shook my head and said I was going for the dog. Considering I hadn’t drawn anything I wanted to try something small. I began to make the outline of a dog. I had an idea of what kind of dog, but I wasn’t sure what kind of details I wanted. I just kept going after a while. The kids would look in on my drawing every once in a while. When I finished with my drawing I showed it to them. Isabella squealed at it and ran to grab Sally. The boys said they like that kind of dog.  
“What dog is that?”  
“It’s a great Dane.”  
“It’s a big dog.”  
“Yes, it is.”   
I put my picture down and sally and veronica came down. They came by me and picked up the drawing.   
“This is really good Damian.”  
“You have a talent there.” They gave praise and I blushed at it. Veronica gave it back to me and I said a quiet thanks.   
“We should put that on the wall.” Ben said.  
“Yeah! I’ll get Jerry to put it up.” David and Ben ran off upstairs. Roxanne came down the stairs now in a pink night gown.   
“What’s going on down here?”  
“Damian drew a dog and it’s good.” Isabella gave out. Roxanne smiled and held her hand out to me. I held out the picture and she took a look at it. She examined it for a moment and I squirmed. She handed it back to me and put a hand on my head.  
“It’s very good Damian. I’m sure you will enjoy your art class when you go to school.” She pet my head a bit more then went back upstairs. I smiled and put it back down on the table.   
“It’s almost lights out. You better start getting ready for bed!” Roxanne’s voice rang out. David and Ben came back down and started to clear up the pencils they scattered everywhere. I helped them a bit and David grabbed the box. Isabella followed behind us with her drawings in hand. I still had my in hand. When we got to our room, David went and put his box under his bed and then went to grab a pair of pj’s. He and Ben then went to go change. When I went to my bunk I saw a pair of large sweats on my bed. Ash and Randall were wearing a pair of large sweatpants as well and they were already in tier beds. Still talking about superheroes. When I went to go and grab the sweats and put them on, jerry held his hand out.   
“David and Ben want to stick your drawing on their wall.”  
“Ok.” I handed it to him and his eyes popped a bit.  
“This is really good.” He complimented me.  
“Thank you.” He went off after that. He grabbed a thumb tag and stuck it next to the other pictures. I changed out and crawled into the bed. The moment I laid down my body just sunk in. I felt so laxed and comfy. I heard the boys come back in and crawl into their beds.   
“Goodnight Jerry, goodnight Ben, Goodnight Randal, Goodnight Ash, and good night Damian.” Roxanne said as she turned off the lights and closed the door. A collective Goodnight was said and everyone turned in. Felt my eyes go very heavy and I felt like my body was sinking. I could hear Ash and Randal breathing and the three extra sets of breathes. I couldn’t hold out much longer. My mind went numb and I was lost. I didn’t think about my grandfather, I didn’t think about Red Hood, or Batman. I just went off into the darkness.


	11. ch. 9 officer Grayson

I was surrounded in darkness and was floating in comfort. For once I felt like I was absolutely comfortable. I snuggled further into the darkness and tried to lull my brain back down, but the voices kept getting louder and louder.   
“Damian! Wake up! It’s time for breakfast!”  
“Damian, come on.”  
I felt someone shaking me and I went further into the cocoon I had made through the night. Mmmmm, I didn’t want to get up, but food was there to be eaten. I groaned and sat up. I looked down to see Randal and Ash both standing next to my bunk. They were dressed in their normal clothes and were waiting for me to get up. I looked over to the window and saw that the sun was beginning to rise.it was just starting to peak over the sky scrapers. It was a nice scene and one that I enjoyed more inside than outside.   
I hoped over the railing and landed on the ground, next to Randal and Ash. “Make you bed Damian. House rules.” Ash said before he walked out the door.  
“Jerry left some clothes for you on the dresser. Meet you down stairs when you’re ready. Randal said as he ruffled my hair. I smacked his head away and watched him walk out. The two little ones were still getting dress. I walked over to the shared dresser and saw an air of pants that be two sixes too big and a red shirt with hoodie laid over it. I put on both and grimaced that the way the sleeves went down to my knees. Covering my hands.   
Ben came over to me and pulled on the sleeve and giggled at it. He pulled on the sleeve a bit harder and stretched the material to make it longer. I pulled it out of his grip and swung the excess material t his head. It harmlessly hit him in the face and he laughed at it.   
Once I was done and now had an overly large, but warm hoodie on me, it walked down the stairs to see a breakfast of oatmeal and oranges. Randal and Ah were already almost done, while Sally and Jane were eating more slowly.   
“Alright everyone, listen up.” Roxanne said as she stood in front of the table. He hands on her hips and her eyes commanding attention. “You 5 don’t have school till after the weekend, but I have work and these 4 have school, so you will have to be stay here till you start. I expect no funny business. House rules stay. If I find one thing out of place I will end you.” Ok, so no fucking around with Roxanne. She already made a death threat before 7 am.   
“What should we do till everyone comes back?” I asked. I wasn’t quite sure what I should do.   
“You 5 will be staying here and just settling in. Read a book, watch some T.V, and look at some of Sally’s old homework. I’m guessing you 5 haven’t been in any type of schooling for some time.” Roxanne said. She wasn’t even looking at us anymore. She was putting on her heels and grabbing her Jacket. She yelled her goodbyes at slammed the door shut.  
I sat at the table and looked at my bowl. It was warm and had a glob of butter in the middle. I grabbed my spoon and hefted a mouth full in and it was wonderful. It melted and slid down my throat. I quickly cleaned my bowl and picked up an orange from the bowl in the middle of the table. I saw Sally and Jane get up and walk over to the front door. They opened a closet and took out their coats and put on them on. When the three little ones came up to them, they helped them put on their coats too.   
“We are going now. We should be back by 5, please don’t burn down the place.” Sally said as she ushered the kids out. Jane threw up some kind of hand sign at me and replicated it to her. She smiled and turned around and closed the door. I heard the door lock, before going back to my orange.   
That left the 5 of us now sitting at the table, staring at our bowls.   
“So much has happened in these past 2 days…” Jerold said. I had to agree with him.  
“We left Gotham and now we have a home.”  
“They do seem nice. And we get to go back to school. I kind of missed it.” Randal said as he pushed his orange peel around.   
“Should we talk about what happened in Gotham? Damian?” I shrugged my shoulders. I honestly didn’t even know what to say. Honestly I was just so used to being on my own. Not even my grandfather tried to shield me like these people did. Infect I’m pretty sure he tried to shove me further into all the types pain this world had to offer. Veronica though and everyone else seemed to want to help me. I remembered how I looked in the mirror last night. I was dying. I probably would have been dead if they didn’t take me in. I probably would have frozen to death, or just gotten too tired and fallen down a building when was alone. I needed help. I needed someone to watch my back.   
“I don’t know what to say honestly.” I said. It was the honest to god truth.   
“Dami, we want you safe. Just like you want us safe. We have to stay together to do that.” Randal said as he got up from his seat and walked around the table. When he got to me he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me to him. It felt nice, and so comforting. It felt like I could trust whatever he was going to say. That he wasn’t trying to get anything from me.  
“We can’t keep each other safe when we are apart right?”  
“So I keep you safe and you keep me safe?” I asked. Ash smiled at that. Randal absolutely beamed at that.   
“Exactly!”  
“You are stronger than us Damian. Remember you saved us first. With your fists!” Jerold laughed out. Throwing his fist up.  
“And we keep you safe by making sure you don’t do anything too, ummm, you?” Veronica put in. she was right. Most of the time I make bad decisions in my own care. I chuckled at that.  
“Ok, I will protect you and you make sure I don’t do anything too me?”  
“It’s a deal!” Randal yelled out.   
“Make it a promise to do no more running away too!” Jerold bargained.   
“Yeah Damian. No more sneaking off. And if you get any ideas, just come talk to us.”  
“Please just come to us!”   
“You keep almost dying on us!” I chuckled at that. Yeah I did.   
“Ok. I promise to not run away anymore. I’m too tired to anyway.”  
“Pinking promise it!” Jerold thrusted his little finger up into my face.   
“Good idea Jerold. Damian Casper Strudel. You must picky promise before I let you go!” Randal declared as he hugged me tighter.  
“That’s not my name!” I joked back and made a weak attempt to get out.   
“Well considering we just found out that your name is Damian and that you’re 12 Freaking years old! I think we go with that name.” Veronica said as she leaned forward to put her pinky out. Ash did so too, and linked his with hers. Jerold did so too and Randal wiggled an arm out to get his pinky in the mix too.   
“Randal, I’m going to need at least one arm, before I join that mess of fingers.” He loosened his hold on me some more and I was able to slide my arm out and link my pinky with them. It was an odd sight to see. My finger was smooshed between all of theirs and they all squeezed mine so tight. Randal’s arm still around me and everyone’s hands clasped over mine.   
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

After our little heart to heart, we cleaned up the table and did the dishes. When we had the dining room cleaned we went our separate ways. I went to the boy’s room and looked around again. I saw that jerry had left his copy of the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy on his bed. I grabbed it up and began to read it. I crawled up to my bunk and sat on it, and just read.   
I lost track of time reading. When I heard the front door open and slam shut I looked up. I could hear Ben and David talk loudly to Jane about their day. Sally gave the command for Isabella to give her. Her coat and go do her homework. It wasn’t long before I heard David and Ben come up the stairs and running into the room.  
“Hey Damian! Guess what we did today!”  
“Yeah, at school we learned about alexander the Great! And we learned about the stars too!”  
David and Ben went into what exactly they learned about the man and his history. Apparently they had to do a packet on his work for homework. They asked if I could help them and I agreed. I came down from my bunk after I looked at the page number I was on. I sat down on the ground with them and they took out their packets from their backpacks. I sat next to them and read over the questions. That when I felt an off sense of knowledge hit me. I knew that I had a large amount of knowledge about the man from before. I’ve had tutors for all over the world to make me perfect. To round me to the greatest emperor I could be. That was till I ran off, but this was weird. I could feel this odd amount of fondness about the man. Like he was a fairytale.   
I sat with them doing their packets with them. Every time I answered a question with them, I’d go into the story of what happened. Try to make it sound just as amazing as it was in my head. They seemed to be enrapt in my stories. Making sounds of amazement as I would reach the high points of the stories. Once they were done with their homework, we were called down to do our chores. Sally gave me the job of cleaning the doorway.   
The door way was muddy and needed to mope. I did so and looked over to see Randal and Ash teaming up to finish the living room. Ash was Vacuuming and Randal as wiping down the table and windows. I heard Veronica and Jane in the kitchen talking and pots banging. I went into the dining room to see the little ones setting the table. I smiled at them and helped them carry in the larger plates.   
Roxanne came in around an hour later and did a sort of expectation of the house. She looked at my work in the entrance and nodded in approval. She then went into the living room and looked over Ash and Randal’s work. She patted the sofa’s cushions and grimaced. Ash and Randel both gulped at that, but when she turned around and saw their worried eyes she laughed at them.  
“It’s fine. You two did fine.” She said and then disappeared into the kitchen. Ash and Randal let out a breath and went up the stairs to the room. I was torn at what to do. Dinner wouldn’t be ready for another hour so I could go back up to read. That’s what I did till it was time to go down stairs. Roxanne called for everyone to come down. I put down the book and hoped down. I was almost done, but I was enjoying every minute of it.   
I came down to the dining room and I saw something very similar to yesterday. Everyone was seated and talking with each other. With Roxanne at the head of the table. And her hands clasped in front of her. Listening to everyone.   
“So tell me what you 5 did today?” Roxanne asked, though she had a glint in her eye.   
“Me and Randal found monopoly and spent a few hours trying to finish it.” Ash said.  
“That’s very nice. And you others?”  
“I took Jerold into the girl’s room and we went over some of Janes old lessons she left for us. Trying to catch up.”  
“Very responsible of you Veronica. But what about you young man? What were you doing by yourself?”   
“I found the book Jerry was reading last night and spent the day reading it.”  
“Ahh the Galaxy one?”  
“Yeah, it’s really good. I’m almost done with it.”   
“That’s good. That’s one of his favorites.”  
“I can see why. I lost track of time reading it.”  
“Good. Glad to see you 5 had a good day.” I smiled and dug into dinner. The girls made mac and cheese with broccoli. I ate it all and went upstairs once I had done my part of cleaning up. When I went up I laid back down on my bed and finished the book. Once I was done, I laid there listening to the noise around the house. I could hear music going in the girl’s room and voices downstairs fighting over what I assume was a monopoly war. I looked at the clock and saw that it was almost 9. I went to go to wash up and get ready for bed. I went into the hall and grabbed a towel from the hallway closet. I went back and grabbed a pair of sweats from a pile of clothes I assumed were Jerrys. I walked down the hall and went into the bathroom. I showered and reveled in the heat again, but I didn’t stay as long. I got out and dried off. I got dressed in the sweats and went threw my old clothes into the hamper. I left the bathroom and walked out fresh. I went to the boy’s room and climbed up to my bunk. I picked up the book and looked it over. It was nice being able to spend a day reading something that wasn’t going too applied to some kid of test.   
I laid there for a while. I wasn’t asleep, but I listened to the others begin to get ready for bed. Around 10 o’clock I sat up and threw the book back on Jerry’s bed. I laid back down and waited for Roxanne to come in again and turn off the lights. She did so and we all said our goodnight. I fell into a light sleep. Around 11 though I was awoken. I heard the front door open and close silently. I heard Roxanne hushed voice speak and she move around the first floor. I could hear Jerry voice next. I heard a heavy sigh and soft footsteps go into the dining room. They sat there for a while. Light conversation and silence echoing around the house. I listened to what I assumed was Jerry’s footsteps come up the stairs. Then the door opening up and softly close. I heard him shuffle forward and his hands fumble in the dark for s pair of pajama pants. He changed and threw himself onto his bed which made the whole frame rock.   
“I heard you liked my book.” He whispered. I rose up a bit and looked down at him. He was staring at me and was smiling.   
“Yeah I did. It was really cool.”  
“It’s my favorite.” He sighed and closed his eyes. He looked tired. He laid there for a moment before hauling himself up. He swung his legs over the bed and crouched down and reached under the bed. He pulled out a closed bin.   
“You like books?” I nodded yes.  
“Me too. When you have some free time, you can pull out this bin and take one of these out. I’ve been collecting them for a while now. Most of them are good. Just make sure you take care of them and put them back. “I looked over and saw that the box was filled books. I was curious, so I swung myself over and hung upside down by my knees. He backed up out of surprise, but quickly recovered a shook his head. He handed me one of the books. I grabbed it and squinted my eyes to try and see what it was about. It was too dark to see, but he closed the box up and shoved it back under.  
“It’s late. Time to go to sleep.” He then flipped me back over the railing and pushed me forward into the bed. He threw the blanket over me and left me to try and figure myself out. I let out a humph and laid back down again. I heard him laid down again, and sighed out contently.   
“Goodnight Damian.”  
“Night Jerry…also thank you.” I added the last part as a second thought. It would be nice to spend some more time reading.   
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
When I woke up and heard the little ones giggling. I looked over and saw them still in their pjs and playing with some kind of action figures. I got up and looked down to see that Randal and Ash were up too, but they too were still in their sweats. I got up and hoped down. I went and grabbed another pair of clothes that was left for me on the dresser. I changed out and went down stairs to see Roxanne running around the living room. She was folding laundry and talking to Jane about what her plans for the night.  
“But its Saturday! I don’t have school tomorrow and I don’t have homework! Why can’t I go to the concert?” Jane Whined.  
“Because I don’t know what is going to happen there, Jane. How am I supposed to raise you if I lose you.” Ouch. Roxanne went to the throat. Jane stepped back and crossed her arms. Probably to think of a report.   
“What if I brought Sally? And that new girl. That we can stay safe together.”  
“Veronica is still settling in. she probably doesn’t want to be too far from her brothers.”   
“Who knows? Maybe she wants to live a little? Just like me.” Roxanne took a moment and looked up to the ceiling.   
“If you can get both of them out and be back by 11 then fine.” Jane was already jumping for joy and running up the stairs to go ask Sally and Veronica.   
“I swear, that girl needs a leash some times. Good morning Damian. Or should I say good afternoon. You must have been tired to have slept this long.” I looked up and saw that the clock said 12:21. How did that happen?  
“Sorry about that. I didn’t realize it was so late.” She waved me off and went back to folding a pair of jeans.  
“It’s alright, boy. You are tired. At least you’re dressed. You, sally and I are the only ones that bothered.” I looked down and chuckled to myself.   
“Well now that you’re awake how about some lunch? Must be hungry by now and everyone else would be getting puckish too.” She left and started to walk towards the kitchen. I followed her and helped her with making the Pb&Js’ for lunch. I put each sandwich on a plate and set up the dining table. I sat down at the table and began to eat my sandwich. Roxanne yelled up that there were sandwiches ready for everyone and I heard feet running around upstairs. I was half way done with mine when Randal and Ash began to eat theirs.   
“Roxanne, Jerry forgot his lunch again. Should I go and get it to him?” Sally asked as she came out of the kitchen and into the dining room.  
“Yes, I noticed. I was going to ask if you’d mind, but I’m sure Jane has already bugged you into going with her tonight. So I will go myself.”   
“Thanks Roxanne, but it’s kind of a long walk. Sure you can do it?”   
“And what are you saying young lady?”  
“That you’re old?” Sally said as she tiptoed away from the dining room with her sandwich.   
“Humph, I’ll remember that for later. I will take Damian here with me then.” Wait what? I looked up to see her smirking at Me.” he’s already dressed and I’m sure, him being a young boy, had want to go out and explore the city for a bit.” I didn’t have a choice. She told me to go and grab one of Jerrys old jackets and a pair of worn out sneakers from the back of the front door closet. I did and within a moment, Roxanne had her coat on and was handing me a bag that was Jerry’s lunch.   
The moment we were outside, I felt a chill go up me. I looked up and saw Roxanne lock the door and step down the stairs. We began to walk down the street side by side.  
“So, Damian, tell me more about yourself. I’ve managed to talk to the others more, but you are quiet.”   
“I don’t know what to say about myself, honestly.”   
“Well, tell me small things then. Like what do you like to do? What’s your favorite color? How about what’s your favorite movie?”  
“Ummm, I like drawing and reading. I’m partial to red. And movie wise, I’m not sure. I can’t really say I’ve seen many movies.”  
“That’s too bad. I personally love to watch movies. What movies have you seen?”  
I paused to think for a moment. I can’t really say I’ve seen any movies. I feel like I would have. Something was nagging at me though a name.   
“Oliver twist? But it was old. Black and white.” I said.   
“Yes! That was great one.” She laughed and started to go into a whole list of movies that she enjoyed. I listened to her and would ask questions about each one. We reached the small restaunt that had a green overhead that said Paul’s diner. Roxanne went in and was greeted by the hostess who looked way to young.   
“Damian, this is Rosie. She’s Paul’s Daughter. She’s 13, so close to your age. You guys might see each other in school.” I shook Rosie’s hand and smiled. She blushed and her face was red as her hair.   
“Is Jerry on break yet? He forgot his lunch. Thought I might take this one here so he can get acquainted with the block.”   
“Not yet. I’m sure he will be happy that you came by. We’ve been packed.” Rosie smiled at me again. “Let me go and get my dad. He would love to see you Mrs. Roxanne.” Rosie left and went into the back. A moment later, jerry came out and smiled at seeing the two of us.   
“Hey you two. See ya brought my lunch. Thanks.” Jerry came up to us and took the bag from my hand. He patted my head and turned around to go back to the kitchen. Before he could though a middle aged man came out, wearing a dirty apron and wiping his hands with a rag. He had a large smile on his face.  
“Roxanne! Good to see you. I see you bring in new blood.” He gestured to me. I looked up to him and held his gaze for a moment before I held out my hand.  
“I’m Damian.”  
“Why hello there Damian. I’m Paul Johnson, but you can call me Johnson.” He laughed real loud and went to talk with Roxanne. They walked over to a booth in the corner.   
“Damian, ask Jerry to get you a pop.” Johnson called to me. I went over to the counter and sat. I waited for Jerry to come over to the small window that separated the kitchen and the counter. When he noticed I was at the counter he leaned over the window to talk to me.   
“Sup Damian. Roxanne get you to come down with her?”  
“Yeah, she said you needed your lunch and Sally was going with Jane to some concert.”  
“hehehehe, she knows I can just make my own lunch here. She probably just wanted to get out of the house for a bit. Did you start to read that book I loaned you?”  
“Not yet. I slept in today.”  
“That’s good. You look like you could use some sleep.”  
“so what’s it about anyway?” he went into talking about how the story was about this guy who woke up after losing his memory and how he needed to make his way through a futuristic world that was falling apart. It sounded cool. We were interrupted when Roxanne and Paul came up behind me.   
“You two seem like you have a nice chat.” Paul said as he leaned forward.   
“Yeah, we are talking about this book he landed me last night.”   
“That’s good. So Damian, Roxanne and I were talking and she told me that you seem like a very studious boy. And she pointed out we need a bus boy around here.”  
“You see Damian. I feel like you’d like to make some extra cash. Paul will pay you under the table if you work with him and his daughter.”  
“You see Damian, it just me Rosie and Jerry here. And we get so overwhelmed. We need an extra hand and you seem like you’d like to make some cash.”  
“Of course, school comes first Damian. The moment you start I want you to study and make good grades, but the option is open to you.”  
“So what do you say?” I didn’t know what to say. It was honestly a bit weird, but make sense as to why Roxanne wanted me to come with her for something so simple. I looked up to Jerry for some kind of guidance and he shrugged.   
“Would I be with Jerry until he come home?” I asked.  
“Yes, but you wouldn’t start till 5. That way you can get out of class and do your homework. You’d be on the same schedule as my daughter. See she handles it very well.” I thought about it for a moment. It might be nice and a bit of cash couldn’t hurt.  
“I’d like to work here Johnson.”  
“Great! You can start tomorrow!” that way we can get you used to it before your school starts. I nodded. I felt good. I was going to have a small job. Roxanne seemed pleased with my choice and she rubbed my shoulders. She kept smiling down at me. Paul started talking about how it was such a good idea. When barely even noticed when the bell to the front door went off. Signaling that a customer was here. Paul left us and Roxanne was saying her goodbyes to Jerry and telling him that shed see him tonight. I was making my way to the door and was about to push it open when it was pulled open before I could grab it. I looked up and saw a young man wearing a police uniform. I couldn’t really see his face, but I saw that he had short black hair and he was very tall. He seemed to see me last moment and put a hand out to steady me before I could crash into him. I looked up, but I just saw his name tag. On the silver plate it read Grayson.   
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A quick note. There’s been issues about how I’m portraying my characters. I’m sorry if you don’t like how I’ve passed this story or how I’ve portrayed one of the bat family, but this is my story. one person had an issue with how I had Damian leave the bat cave and I understand that it would in fact be much more difficult to leave than I had it done, and I did think about making it more realistic so he didn’t leave or more like he wouldn’t be able to leave, but then I wouldn’t be able to do parts of the story I wanted to get in. for example, if he didn’t leave he wouldn’t have gone to bludhaven and I wanted that as a part of my story. If I had gone that way, the story would have been much shorter and would have ended much earlier. So I made it as easy as I could and I will go into how unbelievable it was later, but for now consider it a plot convenience. If there is a demand enough for me to fix it I will but it would not be part of this story. It would become a “what if” project for me.   
On another note, to the person who has issues with how I’m making Damian too weak willed, I’m trying to get across that he is a 12 year old boy who only can remember his grandfather and though later on the story we will see Rhas I wanted to make it a point that Rhas showed no warmth or love to Damian because he thought it would make him weak again, and make Damian betray him again. This is a story of how Damian grows strong again with the help of friends and later his family. He needs to learn to trust those around him, and granted it is taking a long time, be patient. If there are other stories that you feel are better please go read them and recommend them to me. I am a young writer and am just doing this for the fun of it. I have much to learn, for the time being, let me portray Damian the way I want.   
Any way thank you for reading this and message me if there are any questions or comments you have.   
Walls


	12. ch. 10

I looked up at the man and saw soft wide blue eyes. He looked down at me in awe and surprise. I righted myself in his arms, but he didn’t let me go. He kept looking down at me. Analyzing me in his own weird way. I’ve seen that kind of look before. It was one where someone was trying to figure out what I was going to do. With bated breath I let him continue to examine me, hoping he didn’t see anything that set him off. Luckily it ended soon because Roxanne came up behind me and had me take a step back from the officer.  
“Well hello there officer Grayson. It’s been some time since we ran into each other. How’ve you been?” it took the officer a moment to collect himself. His eyes were still on me though and his concentration on me made feel uncomfortable. I could still feel is hands on me though. They felt gentle and warm and had sunken through my coat. In all honesty it felt like they were familiar. Kind of reminded me of Randal and how he would hold me.   
“I’ve been great Roxanne! How are the kids?” The officer finally replied. Roxanne smiled big and her white teeth flashed. The officer smiled back and let her go into each one of the kids and what they were doing. He kept looking down at me though. At this point Roxanne was holding me by my shoulders and pressing me against her. She kept talking to the officer and he listened patiently.  
“Oh and now I’ve got 5 more! There’s another girl, thank god, and 4 boys. In fact here’s one of them now. Have you introduced yourself yet?” the officer turned his attention on me again and his eyes seemed to light up.  
“No, we have not. I’m dick Grayson, I’m a police officer, see!” HE was very friendly and his smile relaxed me some, but I still kept my eyes ahead of me. I felt something under his joyful remarks. He was currently pointing enthusiastically at his bade.   
“Yeah, that’s cool.” I said low. His face fell a bit at that, but he picked it back up before anyone else could catch it.   
“What’s your name?” he asked and he bent down a little closer to me. He was at least 6”3 and I was barely 5 “so for him to do that with ease was impressive. I looked up into his eyes. They were bright, and hopeful. His voice took on a light feel to it.  
“I’m Damian.” I said. The man looked like he was ready to burst into tears. I could see that his blue eyes were welling up with tears. I looked harder at him. Why the hell was he so emotional? He looked like he was about to jump me. Thank god Jerry came out.  
“Hey guys, what’s up? You’re kind of blocking the entrance.”   
“Oh, Jerry. I was talking to Grayson here and introducing him to Damian here.”Roxanne said. Jerry was at this point next to us. He looked down at officer Grayson, who was still crouching to my level. The officer was still staring intently at me. It was getting kind of creepy. I kept eye contact. I didn’t want to back down from him, so I just narrowed my eyes at him. He seemed to a great amount of mirth from that and stood up to his height. His eyes no longer held anymore tears in them, but a peace was there.  
There was at least till his eyes landed on Jerry. Jerry was now glaring at him. His brown eyes now a darker shade and his back stiff. Jerry reached his arm out and put it over me. Pushing me away from the officer. Making room for him to get pass me and Roxanne.   
“Glad to see you guys have met, but we do have to make room, right?” Jerry’s voice was tight and his glare never wavered. He kept his eyes on the officer as he now moved me from Roxanne’s arms to his own. It took me a moment to realize that he too felt the odd vibes that the man was giving off and he was trying to PROTECT me. He wanted to keep me from this man. Just in case he wanted to hurt me. I don’t understand. Me and jerry only met each other the other day, but he already was trying to keep me from harm. His one arm now was flexed across one of my shoulders and crossed across my chest. Gripping my arm that laid relaxed against my side. I had never noticed that though, jerry was lean he was muscled.   
The officer eyes bulged a bit at the act and he blinked slowly. He looked at jerry and took him in. The two of them shared a moment of what I assume was some kind of macho y macho off. Whoever threw the first punch would lose. Whoever lost control would have to answer for it. He officer cleared his throat and looked away. Hiding his face under his hat.   
“Hmm, you right. Sorry about that. Well it was nice seeing you again Roxanne and very nice seeing you Damian. Hope to see you soon. Say hi to the others Roxanne.” And with that, the officer went to go sit with his mates at a booth in the corner. Jerry released me then. He exchanged some words with Roxanne. He ruffled my hair and said good bye to me. I waved back at him and followed Roxanne out. The city had cooled down a bit since we had left, but it wasn’t unbearable.   
“So from now on, Jerry will be walking you home every night after you two finish. You follow him. You do as he says. You don’t take rides from anyone. Even if you know them. Ok?” Roxanne said as we walked back. I looked up and saw that she had he lips pursed. He jaw was set in a tight line.   
“Ok, but what if jerry is abducted by aliens?” I asked. I didn’t really know how to lighten the mood. I felt that Roxanne was very uncomfortable. She felt stiff. At my quip though, he pressed lips stretched a bit into a smile.  
“If that happens then you go to Jane. She knows all about that stuff. Maybe she will be willing to trade?” I laughed at that. It was an odd thought, but I could see the black garbed girl chasing after a UFO trying to sacrificing herself to them. Roxanne chuckled too and she grabbed my hand. He hand was strong and her skin was dry, but it felt nice having her hold it for the moment. She brought my hand up to her waist and held it there for a moment.   
“You should learn how to walk a lady down the street. You offer them your arm and walk them down it. You hook your arm like this and let them decide where to put it.” She explained. I let her put my arm in the crook of hers and after she relaxed a bit I held it up there. We walked all the way back to the house like that. When we walked through the front door, she let me drop my arm and she took her coat off. After she hung hers up I took mine off too and she hung it up. I told my shoes off and lined them up with everyone else’s. After that, I was released to go and do what I wanted till dinner was ready. I went upstairs to start reading the book Jerry leant me. It was the secret Garden.   
Like the last book, once I started it, I couldn’t stop. It was amazing and I was floored. Once I heard Roxanne’s calling for all of us to come down I took my time putting it down. Randall and Ash still waited for me. Although, they did moan for me to hurry it up.   
Once we were done, we sat for dinner and ate. I felt a bit more comfortable and was telling Sally about the book I was reading. She too had read it and loved every moment of it. Once we were done we cleaned up and I went to wash up so I could go back to my book before bed. The little ones whined a bit for me to come and draw with them again, but I told them that I would be sure to do so after I finished with the book. They whined a bit more till Roxanne came up and told them that she’d play with them in the living room. They left me after that and I basked in the silence. I got a good way into the book before it was lights out. I was forced to put it down and go to bed.   
I fell into another light sleep till I heard Jerry come home again. He followed the same pattern as he did yesterday. When he came up to the room and changed he paused before he threw himself onto his bunk. He came up to the railing and stood there for a moment. I laid facing away from him and kept my eyes shut. I almost jumped when I felt a hand touch my head though. I laid there for a moment and ran through my hair. It felt comforting and familiar. Like someone else had done it, but that was impossible. Maybe Randal or Veronica had done it and I wasn’t awake enough to feel it. When he pulled it back I felt sad. I felt like I was missing something.   
I felt something sting my eyes and I resisted a sniff. I felt the bed shift in a telltale sign that he had laid down. When I heard his breathing join the rhythmic pace of everyone else in the room I let my tears slide down. I didn’t know why I was crying, but I felt this ache in my chest. I didn’t know why. It was just there and needed to come out.   
I calmed myself by matching my breathing with everyone else’s. When I felt myself finally calming I looked up at the window. I felt like something was out there for a moment, but brushed it off. I closed my eyes again and this time I let myself drift off. I could heard everyone breathing comfortably and the wind hitting the window with light taps. I fell asleep to those sounds.  
Unfortunately, never noticing the dark figure outside the window recording the room.   
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
Note: so yeah, short one this time. Honestly. Dick is a bit of a creep at first, ha. Umm anyway. Hope you guys enjoyed. I feel like I should give a shout out to those who have commented or message me. So yea, thank you to the following people  
Zatannagurl: you’ve been here since I stared I think.   
NovaRainbow: thanks. It makes me happy that you like it.  
Vongolafan16: yeah, I really wanted the angst and the aggravation up  
Crimsonshot: ummm, yeah, I don’t want ships really. I don’t feel like Damian or anyone else is good for it in this type of story. Anyway thanks for reading.  
Luckystar34: thank you. I like to listen to random music when I write, but I do it late at night. My favorite song for this is ironically what’s inspiring another idea I have, but that is a large project too and I want to finish too. Oh yeah the song is Rich kid by Medicine.   
Msmtnest: umm sorry you feel that my story lost credibility. Maybe I should have posted that people are oc rather than just leaving it as an AU out the ass in the description. Thanks for the heads up. Ummm, honestly other than that. I’m sorry if you don’t enjoy it anymore, but I hope you did it enjoy it till a certain point. Thanks for your time and for reading it.   
Lostboys3: thank you! I’m glad that you found enjoyment from this and I’m glad you have subscribed to me. Yes I do have other batman stories in progress, but they take a back burner to this one currently and unfortunately I have work and school. So yea. Kind have to pick and choose.


	13. ch. 11

I woke up to the sound of the kids laughing downstairs. It seemed like they were getting ready for breakfast. I sat up and saw that I was alone in the room. I hopped of my bunk and went got dressed. I moseyed down the stairs and turned into the dining room. I saw that everyone else was down as well, but it was chaos. Jane and Veronica were laughing loudly at Randal who was on the floor with his chair kicked into the door way. Randal had milk dribbling out his nose and tears coming down his face. The kids were in the comer with a rope that was attached to Randal chair. They were laughing so hard they were leaning against each other.  
I looked over to Roxanne who looked less than pleased. She cleared her throat and everyone’s attention was on her, but it was diverted to Randal when he let out a war cry and dashed into the corner of the 3 our children were stationed in. they let out a shriek and scattered around. Randal chased after them. They didn’t pay much mind to Roxanne as they ran past her into the living room. I heard Randal yelling at them. And them screaming and laughing at him.   
Roxanne had enough after she heard a crash and something break. She went into the living room and I heard her yelling at them. I sat down and grabbed an apple and banana. When she was done she came back in and ordered us to begin chores.  
When I was done with it, I went to go back upstairs and get ready to go to the diner.   
“Roxanne?” I called down to her.  
“Yes, Damian.”  
“When should I go down to the diner?”  
“uhh I say in about an hour. Should go after you have lunch,”  
“Ok! Thanks!” and with that I went back to reading, but was interrupted by David and Ben asking me to draw with them. I did promise to do it later so I sat down on the ground with them and started drawing whatever came to mind. I drew a Robin sitting on a branch. I took my time with it and I was rewarded with a picture that was even to my eye was beautiful. Ben ad Jerry cooed over too and they went on about how it be amazing to fly.  
I think it be amazing to able to fly too. I knew it was childish and the one time I told my grandfather that it was like flying when I would do my training exercise he just glared at me and told me that I don’t have the luxury to think such things, when the world was falling apart without someone there to stand by him. I felt a pang of guilt for abandoning him. I knew that he wanted me to be beside him. Especially with mother in her state, but I couldn’t handle the thought of killing so mercilessly. After I died, I just didn’t feel like I did when I was a child. I couldn’t hold my sword to kill anymore. So I put it down.  
I shook my head trying to dispel the thoughts out my head. I really didn’t like to think about that. I turned my head back to the boys and tuned back into them talk about what they were drawing. I sat there for a bit with them, till we were called down for lunch. I walked down with the boys and sat down next to Veronica. Randal and Ash weren’t around. I gave her a questioning look and she just smiled. I looked over to see the two of them in the corner staring at the wall.  
“Why is Ash there?” I asked.  
“He kept talking to Randal after he was punished. So he joined him.” I chuckled and went to grab some of the baked potatoes that lines the table. I ate it happily and saw that Roxanne come in. I ate my lunch and chatted with Veronica and sally. When I was finished I went to go and wash my plate. When I was done I went to the front door and was grabbing my borrowed jacket and sneakers.   
“Roxanne I’m going to the diner now!”  
“Wait Damian! I’ll walk you there!”  
“Why? It’s just a few miles down. I’ll be fine Roxanne.”  
“It’s still better if you have someone walk with you.”  
“Roxanne, I’ll be fine. If it looks like trouble I’ll go running and you can ask Veronica, I’m fast. Faster than most people.”  
“Still Damian. I just want to make sure you’re ok.”  
“I promise that when I get there will have Jerry text you or something. I just don’t want to show up with my guardian there with me. Like a little kid. “Roxanne sighed and crossed her arms.   
“Ok. But no stopping and do NOT take any rides from anyone. Do you understand? Even if you think you can trust them. DO NOT take any rides.”  
“OK. I’ll be fine. I’ll see you tonight.” I turned and walked out the front the door. I started walking the side walk and I was fine for the first minute or so, but soon I felt something off. My sixth sense was ticking me off and making me paranoid. I checked behind me and didn’t see anyone behind me. I looked up and there were no one standing on top of the buildings. There was no around me, so what was it.   
HONK!   
I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard the abrupt sound. I looked over and saw a police cruiser. Inside was the officer I met yesterday.  
“Hey there Dami! Where you heading off to?” I stopped walking and approached his car. He had sunglasses covering his eyes and I felt something tick inside me. I never really like seeing people cover their eyes. I had their intentions.   
“I’m going to the diner.”  
“Oh? Want a ride there?” he asked. He was smiling at me, but I felt something off.  
“No thank you. I can walk.” I was about to continence walking when he called out me again.  
“Hey! Hey! Wait! You sure? I mean it’s pretty cold out.” I raised an eye brow at him and kept going. He started to pull away from the curb but he kept pace with. Following me down the side walk.  
“I’m sure. It’s not too far.” I started to pick up my pace to get to the diner faster. I could probably run there and be there soon.  
“Come on, it’s nice and warm in here and I think I even have some candy in here!” I stopped shocked and looked at him. My face must have been on of complete shock because he paused and seemed to have realized what he had just said.   
“The Fuck?!” I yelled. I didn’t really know what else to say. I have run across many things in my life and honestly I have never had anyone do this. I mean, I’ve heard of horror stories on the street about kids going missing. That they take a ride from someone and no one ever sees them again. That they are lost to some horrible fate. I’ve even heard of them going missing in the back of police cruisers. Never had I thought I’d run across a situation myself.   
“No! Not like that! I swear! Not that!” I yelled from his car. I backed up from him as he tried to open his door to come out. He seemed to have forgotten how to open a door though.   
“Listen Damian. I didn’t mean it like that. I swear.”  
“Stay away from me you sick freak!” I screamed. He managed to crawl out of his seat and was now trying to stand up, but when I screamed, he put his hands up trying to shush me. He looked around to see if I had gained any attention. Some people had stopped to look, but went on their way once they saw it was an officer.   
“Damian I swear. I don’t want to hurt you. I know that it was weird and I’m sorry. Just give a minute to explain.” I shook my head and took a step back.   
“Damian don’t! I swear, we will laugh about this. I promise that you will get a kick out of this in like an hour.”  
“If I’m alive in an hour.”  
“Damian, I can promise you, you are alive. You will be alive in an hour. I won’t let you get hurt.” He said it with such conviction. I paused for a moment to look at him. He had thrown off his sunglasses in the cruiser and now his blue eyes glowed. I felt like they were piercing me. He took a step towards me and I wanted so badly to run away. To turn and maybe find a dark place where no one could find me. For whatever reason, this officer had decided to try and well I don’t know. He wanted me to me with him. I felt so many conflicting things with him. I wanted to listen to him, but I wanted to be safe and safe meant running. That’s when I remember that I promised Veronica and everyone I wouldn’t run away any more. That I can’t leave them. If I run now, I’d leave them.   
Why was I running though? I could fight. I knew how to fight. I knew how to kill. I might not do it, but I knew how to. I felt a bit of fight come to me. I squared my feet and stood up straight. I wasn’t going to run away anymore. I did enough of that.   
Grayson sighed in relief that I wasn’t running. “Ok. Good. Good. We are getting somewhere.” God I wished I had my dagger, but I lost it in Gotham.   
“What do you want with me?” I tried to make my voice as commanding as my grandfather was.   
“I want to take you home Damian. Now wait a moment. Don’t run. Please don’t run. I don’t mean your grandfather. I meant home to Gotham.” I gave him a skeptical look. The only people I knew in Gotham were with me here.   
“I have no family, Grayson. Now you seem to be aware of my origin so you know that my Grandfather is my only living relative, and I refuse to go back to him.”  
“Damian, you have no idea how happy that makes me, but hear me out, ok?” I gave him a hard stare. I examined him like he was a criminal. Which he might just be if the way he tried to get me in his car was any way to go about it. His eyes though, they begged me. They were so desperate and pleading. I couldn’t keep the eye contact anymore. I looked to the ground.   
“I can’t talk to you right now.” I said. Still looking down, but I heard him come to stand in front of me. I looked up to see his face smiling a bit.  
“So you’re willing to talk to me?”  
“Don’t push it, Grayson.”  
“Ha! Oh god. I missed that. Oh Damian. I missed t you.”  
“What? You know what? No. I don’t have time for this. I’m already late. I’ll see you later. I trust that you can arrange another “Chance” meeting.” I didn’t even bother to look at him as I left. I walked right by him. Not even bothering to say a properly goodbye.  
“Yeah! I’ll find you again! But not in the creepy way. I promise!” I rolled my eyes at him as I kept walk to the diner. I started to run there now. I didn’t want to stay and see what stupidity Grayson would do again. I swear the man must be denser than Jason.   
Wait, who’s Jason?


	14. Bruce

I can’t believe that we let him slip between our fingers. We had him here! We had him home. Somehow, he managed to slink through all of my defenses. He managed to not set off any of the alarms in the garage and he even managed to hack into the caves exit and get through the sewer systems underneath. How in the world did he managed that? We were only gone for 20 minutes. Alfred had gone down there to monitor him as Jason, Tim and I went to check the status on Scare crow. We were in a hurry to get back, so we were gone for only a moment. When we finally got back down we saw that the bed was empty and Alfred was on the stair case, unconscious. We had ran to him. Making sure that he was ok before asking him what happened and where Damian was. He just shook his head and hung it.   
I let him go and told Tim to stay with him till we came back. Me and Jason both ran to our own vehicles and revered up. We drove out the door and we were out. We drove through the sewers trying to find Damian. We took every way we could l think of. Once we had covered all of the ways of the sewers we drove out to the streets. I had radioed Tim telling him we were going out to look for him. Tim said he’d be out there soon too. I cut off the radio after that and just kept thinking about where he would g. there was where I could think of that he’d go to at first.   
Jason said he was going back to the warehouse that he was staying at and I thought that I would I go check the bus station. When I got to the station I had to park my car a block away because the whole place was filled with people trying to evacuate. Buses lined the area, making it very difficult to get through. When I finally got to building I began to make my way to the information desk. I asked the lady that was running it if she had seen a boy about Damian age and height. She just shook her head and pointed to a line of homeless kids that was in the back before she went back to talking on the phone. I walked up and down the line of kids. Most of them didn’t bother to look up at me, while others glared at me.   
So many of them looked like Damian. Too dirty clothes and too skinny build. I did multiple runs up and down, but the line began to move. The kids were being sent away from the city and placed in foster homes. Incase Jason didn’t find them I would have to get a list of all the places they were sent to. I watched each kid go on and walked around the buses. Looking into the windows, the busses were overcrowded and they carried an odor, but I kept looking. I was losing my mind trying to catch a glimpse of my boy. I stayed there till all of the buses drove away. Each one going in a random direction.   
I went back to my car and sat down for a moment. I needed to take a breather. I was becoming agitated and desperate. I wanted to so badly go on each bus and yell for Damian to come out. If I did that though, it get me nowhere but further from him. I punched my passenger sat and threw my head against the head rest. I got a call on the radio from Jason say was empty and that the kids looked like the cleared house after he left. I told him to meet at the cave before hanging up on him.  
I jerked my body violently against my seat. Banging my head reputably against the head rest. We had him. He was with us and we had him again.  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
When I finally managed to drag myself back to the cave Jason was already there with Tim. Tim was seated at the monitors already finding out where the evacuees were going. They were sent all over. Some of them sent as far as Florida and California. I would have to alert the justice league that Damian was out here with no memory, but was still very dangerous. He managed to elude us and disappear without a trace.   
I sat down and began to try and figure out where he would most likely end up and if he would stay. I spent days doing that. Alfred would come and try to get me to go to bed, but id refuse. Power naps were second instincts to me and sleeping in my chair was normal. For me at least.  
Time would come and go, I think he would just check on me. To make sure I didn’t go over the edge again. Jason though, he left almost immediately. He didn’t say goodbye and he didn’t let us know where he was going. I forget sometimes that Damien’s death was a horrible mark on him. He didn’t want another Robin to be like him. Then there was Dick. Poor dick. We had to call him and tell him, but he was in denial about it. He said that I needed to take some time off. He didn’t believe it when I told him. He just kept refusing what I was saying. He hung up on me very soon after I told him. He needed time. That’s all. At least now he knew. Which was half the battle.  
It wasn’t until a few days later that I got an urgent call from him.   
“Bruce! You weren’t lying were you?” his voice was excited and panicked.   
“Dick, what’s wrong?” his voice was breathless. Like he was having a panic attack.  
“Bruce, I saw him. He’s here and he’s so close.” His voice took on an airy feel.  
“Where is he?”  
“HEs staying with one of the local foster moms in the area. “  
“What’s she like?”  
“She’s a good person. Has a lot of kids, but she keeps them managed. Bruce. What are we going to do? He didn’t even look like he knew me.”   
I took a moment to absorb this. Dick was in a close proximity to Damian and he knew the women who was looking after him. This was our chance to ease Damian in. to gain his trust and hopefully this time he wouldn’t run off.   
“Ok, Dick. We need to be smart about this. Can’t rush into things and having him run off. Is he ok?”  
“Yeah, he looks ok. He didn’t seem hurt or anything.”  
“Good. Good. And this women. She is good to her kid’s right?”  
“Yeah, she keeps them in school and behaved enough where the cops aren’t called. Damian is safe there.”  
“Ok. Do you know where she lives? We need to set up some sort of security.”   
“Yeah, I know where she live. I’ll go there tonight and set up some recorders and sensors.”   
“Ok. Follow him, but be careful. He’s pretty spooked. We need to be careful this time.”  
“I’ll see if I can get him to talk to me. Maybe I can get him to talk to us. Maybe jog his memory.”  
“No Dick. We have to be careful. Just be around. Make him feel like our just a normal presence.”  
“Bruce, me and Damian was closer. I’m sure I can get him to trust me.”  
“Dick, I just don’t want to risk it. Damian right now, he isn’t the Damian we knew then. He’s even more untrusting. Let him be for now.” The line went quiet after that. I stood there for a moment, waiting for r a response when I looked down to check my pone. I guess he didn’t like that answer. I jumped into my car and began to make the track to Bludhaven. I rang up Tim and left a message for Jason that Dick had found Damian and that I was on my way there. Tim said he would be there too when he finished up with the Titans. Jason had yet to respond, but t I had a feeling that id see him there.   
I got to Bludhaven in record time. I stood outside of Dick’s apartment until he walked up. He didn’t look surprised that I was there. He came up to me and we stood there for a moment. Last time we had this type of disagreement I won, but that’s only because I was Damian’s father. Now though, it felt like was going to do, what he was going to do. Eventually he waved me in. we went up to his apartment, when we opened up the door Jason was sitting on the couch with his feet up.   
“Sup Dick, Bruce.”  
“I had a feeling id see you here.” Dick said as he plopped himself on the couch next to him. I made myself comfortable standing beside the coffee table.   
“So, are we going to talk or sit in awkward silence like we usually do?” Dick joked.  
“I just want to make sure that we don’t do anything to make the situation worse than it already is.” I said. Dick shifted a bit and Jason flashed him a smile at him.   
“We need to make him feel comfortable. You guys can be the background characters, but I refuse. I will handle this better than any of you did.” he might have a point.  
“You guys came to him as Batman and Red Hood. I will come to him as Dick Grayson. Get him comfortable and reintroduce him to us in a slower and easier progression.”   
“We have to watch it though.” I said trying to negotiate. There was no way I was letting this get out of hand again.  
“Course, we will have you and Jason in the area each time I make contact and we will have surveillance on him at all time.” I nodded and Jason sat up and went to the fridge.   
“Then it’s decided. We will stay here till this is resolved and Baby bird is back in the cave.” Dick ran into the kitchen to yell at Jason about staying in his apartment. They fought till Dick finally conceded and let Jason stay for a few days and I said that was going to grab a hotel room. When it got dark we suited up and followed dick to a small townhouse that was surrounded by other smaller buildings. It looked old and a bit run down, but it held this cozy feel. The three of us walked up to the narrow side of the building where a small alleyway was cluttered with trash cans. Dick pointed up to two window sills on the back of the house. The sill was small as well so we could only fit two of us hanging off the sides. Dick was already climbing up the side of the house by the time I had hooked up my harness. Jason volunteered to be watch out as we set up cameras and sensors.   
We were setting up a camera on the window sill that had three bunk beds. In the dark I could make out bodies of two small boys furthest away from the window. I looked over and saw another two medium sized bodies. All four of them were still. I looked over at the last bunk and noted that the bottom was empty. The top bunk though had a small lump on it. The lump was completely still though. Every now and then it would rise and move a bit. Probably trying to fall asleep. Dick clicked his tongue and raised his head a bit. That one must be Damian. He seemed to tossing and turning for some reason. I wanted to see if Dick knew anything, but Jason called to us that someone had just gotten home. I and Dick both sun around to either side of the window. We could still see in though, through the corner of our eyes. it sounded like there was someone downstairs and was talking to whoever had just gotten in. they chatted a bit and then I could hear soft footsteps coming up to the room.  
A young man opened the door and left a crack open so he could see in the room without having to turn on the rooms light. He was lean and tall with scruffy brown hair. He shuffled into the room and changed into a pair of sweats. He shuffled to the bunk that had a vacant bunk and looked like he was about to lay down when he paused. He stood eye even to the top bunk that Damian was on. Dick leaned over a bit more to watch what was happening a bit more intently. The boy lifted his hand over the railing and smoothed Damian’s hair that was peeking out, back and sat it there for a moment. Damian was completely still. He didn’t slap his hand away nor did he seem to be repulsed by it. It left me feeling an ache. Damian was letting me touch him before he died. He let me pick him up sometimes and he even stopped dodging me when I would put my hand on his head. He was accepting me, and now seeing this. How he let another person treat him the same with little resistance was leaving this deep seated resentment for the world. How dare it take away my son, to spit him out and make him turn his back on us? His real family and go to these strangers that might end up turning their back on him if they knew the truth. Damian been through enough. He needs to go home. Where he can be kept safe.   
I watched the young man step back and climb into his own bunk. I was about to signal Dick to continue installing the sensor when I saw that he was still stiff. His head was turned away from me, but I could still see his clenched jaw. His fist was bawled up and he seemed to be having some inner conflict about what he too just saw. I stayed silent for a moment to let him figure himself out. He took a few deep breathes and went back to crouching over the window. Securing a camera on it. When he was done went to do the rest of the grounds. We didn’t talk and we didn’t look at each other as we did so. Dick was pensive and he seemed like he needed some time, but I could understand where he was coming form. Damian was my son, but to Dick Damian was his brother that he had to raise. The line between brother and son had blurred for him. Making the loss that much more. And to see someone taking over his role must be a heartbreak to him.   
Once we had the perimeter secured we went back to the side where Jason was still keeping watch. He turned to us and saluted with his two fingers. With the signal that it was all clear we left the small alley. We split for the time being and went our separate way. I left to go to my hotel room and arrange myself for tomorrow.   
When I got to my room I showered and dressed. I couldn’t stop thinking about how my life ended like this. I was in Bludhaven for the time being to bring my now resurrected son home again. I let out a soft chuckle at the thought. I remember how Damian was when he first came to me. He was angry and so ready to prove himself that he was perfect. That’s what Talia had convinced him to be. Prefect. The prefect little heir to the world. Damian though, he never made much comment on wanting to rule the world. If anything, the moment I met him, he just wanted to be robin and be the best one. His skills were certainly the best I had seen from any of my robins, but he was too arrogant and would get himself in trouble. Although, I can’t say that I wasn’t the same, nor can I say that he was really any different from any of the others. I suppose it ran in the family.  
Damian had gotten taller though. Granted I had only been with him for a short few precious hours, but he had grown. Granted he was nothing but skin and bone, but he had grown a bit. His hair also had grown out a bit too. It was long and ran to his shoulders, but he didn’t seem to have noticed. I wonder how long he had been away from his grandfather. It must have been for a while. I clenched my fist at the thought that my own son didn’t come to me for help, but how could he. Rhas probably never told him about me. Chances are he just kept him in the dark that his father had been willing to go to the ends of the Earth for him. Rhas wanted to mold Damian into his vision, but Damian seemed to have inherited my uncanny ability to screw up all his plans.   
It will be ok though. We have him in our sights at all time now and we won’t let him out. Not for the world.  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
I’m going to be honest, I did not enjoy writing this chapter. I feel like I just could not capture Bruce very well. I ended me early and decided that I would take the next pov change to Dick or back to Jason. I’m sorry for this one, but I wanted some perspective on the situation. To get others input.   
On the bright side, I’ve reached the half way point for this story. There’s two more major archs to this story left and then after that it be fluff. So yeah. Thank you for reading and I’ll talk to you later.


	15. ch 11 Grayson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i dont want to say why it was so long to update. i was busy with life.thanks for tuning in and enjoy.  
> Walls

I was seated in my patrol car outside of the house around the corner. I was waiting for a glimpse of my boy to come around the corner. I had overheard yesterday at the diner that Damian was to work with foster brother in the kitchen as a way to have him socialized better. Apparently he hadn’t done much with the other children since he had come and seemed to be only active with his original little posy. The owner of the diner was excited to have. Apparently he and Damian’s foster mom were good friends and she said he was an excellent worker. I could believe that.   
Damian never half assed anything, but hearing that he was doing chores and going to work like a normal kid was shocking to say the least. He never once tried to clean up around the manor other than his own room. In fact the one time I tried to convince him to help me clean up the living room he threw a lamp at my head and said that he would destroy the manor instead and count it as cleaning up. I didn’t ask him to do it again after. Now though, he was willing going to work at a diner with some guy and he was even helping around Roxanne’s house was some kind of miracle. Maybe he was brainwashed, but not by rhas but by Roxanne. Ha! Right.   
I sat up a bit when I saw a small figure walk out of the house. They wore an oversized green coat that wasn’t zipped up with a pair a loose fitting jeans that looked like it had seen better days. Their shoes was tattered and worn looking. When they turned around I saw that it was Damian. I started up my patrol car and set off my tracker so that Bruce and Jason, who were currently standing around incognito, could follow me. I saw him walk about a block up and started to follow him. He was walking back to the diner. He slowed down about half though and started to look around him sporadically. Damn, he must have felt me trailing him, or maybe Bruce or Jason got too close. I saw Bruce casually walking down the street with Damian on the opposite side of the road, but Jason wasn’t anywhere I could see.   
He was now moving slowly forward, and his posture was becoming ridged. He kind of reminded me of a rabbit before it took off running. I had to stop that before he got too scared and left the city. I honked my horn and the kid jumped three feet. He spun towards me and gave a stern glare. Something he must have inherited from Bruce.   
“Hey there Dami! Where you heading off too?” I asked him in my most enthusiastic and friendly tone. I wanted him to like me enough to feel comfortable around me. I also was excited to see him. to see that he had grown up. That he was going growing in general was comforting.   
“I’m going to the diner.” He turned forward again and took a shy step forward.   
“Want a ride?” I offered. I knew I was playing a short hand, but it has been so long. You can’t blame me for wanting to be as close to my boy as I could. He gave me a side way glance, but kept walking.   
“No thanks. I can walk. “He shut me down and began to walk away faster. He was now at a light job, and granted I was in a car, and could keep up easily, I didn’t want to risk him turning down and alley and losing sight of him.  
“Hey! Hey! You sure? I mean it pretty cool out.” I said, trying to get him to slow down a bit. It was cold out today, but I have a feeling that didn’t really make much of a difference for him. He kept walking down the side walk. I pulled forward and began to keep an even pace with him. I saw Bruce up head walking, but he was loitering. He must be watching me to make sure that I didn’t spook Damian too bad. Doubt that I could though. Damian and I were the closest in the family. There was no way I could ever make him want to flat out run away from though. Unlike Bruce, who even before Damian’s demise, would make the boy run off? Luckily though, after Damian ran off from him, he always came to me.   
“I’m sure. It’s not too far.” He picked up his speed again, but at this point it could be called a jog. He was getting ready to run. I could see it and Bruce must be able to feel it because he was staring blatantly at us now. His body turned towards me and I’m sure if I was closer I would see the classic look of disapproval from him.  
“Come on, it’s nice and warm in here and I think I even have some candy in here!” I called out desperate for him to just pause for a minute and look at me. It took only a second for my brain to read that back to me and for me to proses the look of horror that came across the kids face. I did get what I wanted though. Damian paused and was now looking at me. I got what I wanted, but with it was a look of fear that now covered his face.   
“The Fuck!?!” he yelled out. Bruce was now facing us and was taking slow precise steps towards us. Probably to run interference if Damian got too worked up.   
“NO! No! Not like that! I swear! Not that!” I yelled from my car. I tried to reach forward to try and make him stay still and listen to me for a minute, but my car door got in the way. I fumbled with the latch, but it was locked. Damian though was quickly trying to make an escape.   
“Listen Damian. I didn’t mean it like that. I swear.” I called out to him. He only paused for a minute before he began to look around again for a quick escape.   
“Stay away from me you sick freak! “He screamed. I could see Bruce now starting to lightly jog back down the street towards us. From the roof tops I see Jason peeking over. I have to get this under control before they interfere. When they do, my whole plan goes out, and the “Easy” transition of us just sliding into Damian’s life again goes out the window.   
I managed to get out of my car and stand up. Just in time to shush him. Granted it was mostly just Bruce and Jason that were looking, but I didn’t want too much attention.   
“Damian I swear. I don’t want to hurt you. I know that it was weird and I’m sorry. Just give a minute to explain.” I begged him. He just shook his head and took a step away from me. I saw Jason start making moves to jump down and get involve, but I can’t let Damian go just yet. We need him to give us a chance himself. If we try to force it, Damian won’t come to us. We need him to come to us willingly. To be a family again.  
“Damian don’t! I swear, we will laugh about this. I promise that you will get a kick out of this in like an hour.”   
“If I’m alive in an hour.” His vice raised an octave and cracked. It be funny if it were a different situation.   
“Damian, I can promise you, you are alive. You will be alive in an hour. I won’t let you get hurt.” I meant every word. I won’t anything ever happen to him again. The moment we have him with us, is the moment I make sure he is protected from everything. I don’t care if I have to lock him in his room. I will make sure he is safe in there. I will give him plenty of art supplies and his pets will be with him. He’d be content there.   
He took a moment to absorb me and my words which I was grateful for. It gave me a moment to try and calm myself down before I said another stupid thing. I saw that Bruce had now made it to a small corner in the alley across the street from us. He was staring at us intensely. I could practically hear him saying not to push it. Above us, Jason was perched on a balcony. Just watching us.   
Damian’s whole posture changed. He straightened his back and stood to his full height. Grated that wasn’t much but it was comforting that he seemed to be willing to stand his ground here. We might fight, but at least he wasn’t running away.   
“Ok. Good. Good. We are getting somewhere”, I said. I was finally calm enough to not be going into hysterics every time he tried to disappear on me. I have to remember. Damian is the one that needs the support and patience. He lost and confused. I need to be willing to step with him, not dragging him with me.   
“What do you want with me?” His voice lowered a bit and I was brought back to Bruce. He sounded just like him.   
“I want to take you home Damian. Now wait a moment. Don’t run. Please don’t run. I don’t mean your grandfather. I meant our home. To Gotham.” I said. I wanted to be as truthful as I could, but he just gave me a skeptical look.   
“I have no family, Grayson. Now you seem to be aware of my origin so you know that my Grandfather is my only living relative, and I refuse to go back to him.” I huffed out a smile from that. He chose us still. With no memories, he still chose us. I felt so much pride for him.  
“Damian, you have no idea how happy that makes me, but hear me out, ok?” I begged him again. I put on my best please listen to me face with my bright blue eyes widen. This worked on Bruce, and one time I did it to him to keep him in the cave and it worked so hopefully it would again.  
He took a moment to decide. He kept eye contact with me for that moment, but broke and looked down to the pavement. “I can’t talk to you right now.”  
“So you’re willing to talk to me?” I felt a smile stretch across face. He was willing to talk to me. To stay around and make this work.  
“Don’t push it, Grayson.”   
“Ha! Oh god. I missed that. Oh Damian. I missed you.” I had to stand up and throw my head back and laugh. It was so nice to have him back. To have him just talking back to me.   
“What? You know what? No. I don’t have time for this. I’m already late. I’ll see you later. I trust that you can arrange another “Chance” meeting.” He said. He sounded like he used to. This old push and pull in conversation. It was so RELIEVING to have this back.   
“Yeah! I’ll find you again! But not in the creepy way. I promise! “I added the second part as an afterthought. I didn’t want him freaking out again. I watched him walk away from me towards the diner that was around the corner. When I saw him disappear I felt Jason land next to me.  
“REAL smooth there.” Jason’s voice piped up behind me. I turned and saw him leaning back against my car with a smirk. I reached over and smacked his shoulder lightly.  
“That could have gone better, but overall well done. It got him to relax enough that he’s ok with talking to you again.” Bruce complimented me. I smiled at him and looked back to where Damian disappeared.  
“So, what’s the plan D?” Jason asked.  
“Damian is going to be waiting for me to make my move. All I have to do is make him as comfortable with me as possible. Make him trust me again.” I took a deep breath and let it blow out. It was hell trying to get him to trust me the first time. It’s going to be hell getting him this time. I was in for a fight. Jason just pat my back and slid into the passenger seat of my car.  
“What are you doing?” I asked.  
“I always wondered what it was like to ride upfront instead of the back of these.” I rolled my eyes at him and slid into the driver’s seat.  
“I’ll call you when I make contact again Bruce.” He was already walking away from me.   
Once I had closed the door and began driving Jason began to fidget in his seat. I looked over to him and he settled down and looked out the window.   
“Dick, we need to talk.” I glanced at him. His voice was serious and what I could make out of his face from the reflection of the window showed that his face was hard set, with his lips pressed firm.   
“What’s wrong?”  
“Do…Do you normally try to lure young boys into your car with candy?” I smacked him really hard in the head. He just shook his head and burst out laughing. I shook my head at him and continued driving. I have to admit. It was nice to hear Jay laughing so much.


	16. ch. 12

I ran to the diner once I went pass the corner and out of sight of Grayson. When I managed to get into the diner though Jerry was standing by the kitchen window looking at me. He looked like he was frustrated and when he saw me though, he seemed to lighten up, but quickly put on angry face again.  
“Where have you been Damian?” he asked me from behind the window.   
“Sorry, ran into the cop from yesterday and he wanted to chat.” Jerry seemed to dislike that answer. He thrummed his fingers against the window sill before slapping it and turning back to the kitchen. Right then, Mr. Robison came up behind me and patted me on the back. He pointed to a closet where I could put my coat in till I was done. When I hung up my coat he threw an apron and an empty tub to go collect dirty dishes from the tables. I did what he told me and once I got them all I went into the back where the kitchen was. I saw Jerry by the stove cooking. His back to me. I went to deposit the dishes to the washers and was walking out when I heard a high pith whistle. Jerry had his head craned at me throwing his head to signal me to come stand next to him.   
“Yo, so what did you and the cop talk about? Officer Grayson is a nice guy, but doesn’t really socialize with us.” Jerry was really suspicious of that guy. Can’t blame him. The fact is that, Grayson knows all about me. He knows my secret and I can’t be sure he won’t turn me in. I might have to chase him off soon. First see what it is he really wants from me, because there is nothing for me in Gotham. The only people I know are here. Well the only ones I care about at least.   
“He just wanted to see if I was ok. Figured I got lost without Roxanne.”  
“I see. Well next time just say your fine and that you’re in a hurry. Remember, people may seem nice, but they might be looking for something.”  
“I know that. I just didn’t want to be rude to him. He wasn’t mean or anything. Just really talkative.” Jerry chuckled at that.   
“Ok. Just come straight here for now. If he wants to talk to you tell him to do it on his own time. You are actually doing your job.”  
“Ok, but what is his deal?”  
“Mmmm, no one really knows. He came from Gotham, came here and became a cop. Really just showed up one day. I mean he’s a nice guy, but I don’t know much about him. Well other than he comes here often enough with some of his coworkers.” Huh, so no one would have much Intel on him around here. If I could get my hand on a computer, I’m sure I could do a background check on him. There has to be something on him that explains how he knows me.   
“He’s kinda weird.” Jerry just laughed at me and hip bumped me back to the door.  
“Go back out there, Dami.” I went back to my bin and grabbed it before I went out. Walking out I saw that the diner was now pretty empty except for a few customers that seemed to be there to just relax and read the paper. I saw this one guy just staring down at a cup of coffee, brooding.   
I walked up to Mr. Johnson and he told me to go wipe down the tables and after that go see if the guys in the back needed help setting up for the dinner rush. As I was wiping down the table though I felt an intense stare hitting my back. I didn’t want to look behind, because that would alert whoever it was.  
I went about my business like usual, jus wiping down the tables. When I finally almost done I looked up and saw the guy that was brooding earlier staring at me. I waved at him a little and he smiled at me before nodding his head in greeting.   
“Your new here?” He asked. I nodded my head and went back to wiping down the last table. When I was done I began to walk back to the kitchen.  
“See yam.” I threw at him over my shoulder. I didn’t bother to see his reaction. It wasn’t worth it. Once I was back in the kitchen I went over to Jerry.  
“Hey, you need any help?”  
“Yeah, if you can go a peel those potatoes over there it would be great.” I went and did that for him and after that I was given a list of chores I could do till closing. Dinner came and went really quick and before I knew it I was helping Jerry with clean up.   
Once we were done, Jerry and I were at the front of the diner with Mr. Johnson locking the door.   
“Nice work boys. I’ll see you two tomorrow.” He waved goodbye before walking away.  
“Come on Dami. Time to go home.” Jerry wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me to him. My jacket was heavy but the night air was bone chilling and his warmth was a welcomed comfort so I didn’t resist it. He began to lead me down the side walk and making idle comments on whatever came to mind.   
“So you excited about going to school?” he asked out of nowhere. I looked up to him and saw that he was looking down at me expectantly.   
“I’ve haven’t really given it much thought. I guess it would be nice.” I said with a shrug. He squeezed me closer to him and leaned down.  
“Don’t worry Dami. I’m sure you will enjoy it. Did you read that book yet?”  
“Yeah I started it. I really like how they lose their minds in like the first three chapters. A real thriller.”  
Jerry laughed at me and ruffled my hair. I laughed with him and we continued onward back home. When we were half way back though I swear I saw a shadow move around the rooftops. Jerry noticed my hesitance and my attention on the rooftops.  
“You see something?”  
“Thought I saw a shadow or something.”  
“Ahhhhhh, don’t worry too much. Probably just Nightwing.”  
“Nightwing?”  
“Yeah, you know. Like this guy who dresses up in leotards and runs around kicking people.”  
“Ha! So like he just runs around kicking people? Shouldn’t we be worried then?”  
“Well no, not like that. He’s kinda like Batman, but not. Goes after the bad guys and as long as we aren’t assholes then he probably won’t bother us. There is a story of him stealing some guy’s burrito. No reason, just swept in and stole it.”  
“Why would he do that?”  
“Probably just hungry. You know, when you have the munchies. Don’t fight it.” I was laughing at the idea of some mask vigilante stealing a burrito, but under that I was worried. A compatriot of batman so close. I had to be sure not to draw too much attention till I could come up with a contingnsee plan for him and Grayson.   
When we got to the house I waited for Jerry to unlock the door. When he did, he ushered me in and closed the door behind us and locked it. I was taking off my shoes while Jerry was hanging up our jackets. Roxanne came out of the living room already in her night wear. She was smiling down at me and Jerry.  
“So how was it?”  
“It was good. I and Jerry were just talking about Superhero’s.” I told her and Roxanne smiled even bigger.  
“That’s good Damian. Glad you had fun with Jerry.”  
“Yeah, Damian did well for his first day. Real quick and thrower.”  
“Good job Damian.”  
“Hey, uhhmmm Roxanne. Food?”  
“Right, jerry. Come on Damian. Let’s get some dinner. We have tuna Casserole tonight.”  
“Sound great to me.” I hadn’t realized how hungry I was till now. We sat down and waited for Roxanne to come out with our plates. She sat them down and I began to dig in. Roxanne was asking us about the book we were talking about earlier and she would throw in whatever knowledge she had about it or her thoughts on topics.   
Once I was done with my plate Roxanne took it and said to go shower and get to bed. Once I was in the shower I let myself relax ad soak the heat. The cold was still in my bones so be able to soak in the heat was a welcome. When I was satisfied I stepped out and dressed myself. I took a step out of the bathroom and saw that both doors were closed. The girl’s room was closed and I couldn’t hear anything in there so they must be asleep. When I got the boys room door I listened closely for any sign of them being awake. I was rewarded with the sound of shifting on a bed and creaking of a bed frame.   
I opened the door a bit and let a bit of light shine through to see Randal and Ash sit up. I stepped in and saw that Jerold had made himself comfortable on my bunk.   
“Hey Dami, we were waiting for you to come back. How was it? Randal asked in a hushed tone.  
“It was fine. It was nice hanging with Jerry.”  
“That’s cool. Did Roxanne tell you about school yet?”  
“No, not yet. What’s up?”  
“Roxanne is going to take us tomorrow for testing.” Ash said.  
“To see where we are. We might need some catching up.” Jerold said as I climbed up to my bunk and sat next to him. He scooched over a bit and I crawled further in.   
“Nervous?” I teased.  
“Honestly yeah. I haven’t been to school in like a year.” Randal murmured.   
“I don’t even remember the last time I went.” Ash offered. We went quiet for a moment. I honestly hadn’t really given it much thought. I’ve been asked about it, but I have to think about it. I’ve never really gone to a normal school. I always had tutors. I suppose I would like to try it. I don’t think I would have any issues with classes though. I know I’m way ahead of any college graduate so middle school should be a cake walk.   
“I’m sure you will do fine.” I looked up and saw that Jerry was in the door way now. His hair slightly damp and he was wearing sweats now. “Now, everyone to bed. Their own bed. Jerold.” Jerold got out of my bunk with a hop and walked over to his own bunk. I used this time to lay down and pull the covers over me. I waited for Jerry to do his customary body throw into his bed before closing my eyes. When I felt the frame shake and finally settle I closed my eyes. I listened to everyone’s rather become even as they felt asleep. Soon I too was starting to drift. Id deal with the thought of school tomorrow.


	17. hi there...again13

The next day went by very similarly to Saturday. It was quiet and filled with the usual chatter. There was no major incidents. I woke up ate breakfast with everyone and then did my chores. After wards I finished my book till it was lunch time. Then I went to eat lunch with everyone and we talked about school and what we were going to do Monday. After I ate my lunch, Roxanne gave me a rucksack for jerry and sent me on me on my way. The walk to the diner was quick and quiet. No Grayson’s no weird shadows. Nothing. It was nice. I went to work and met up with Jerry. He patted my head and took his lunch. I went and didn’t my job and saw the brooding man again. He made small talk with me and I hung around a bit more. He seemed to be happy that he had someone to talk to. When I was called back into the kitchen by one of the washers he waved goodbye to me and left. We closed and Jerry and I walked home.   
When Monday came the next day Roxanne came in and woke us all up. She got the little ones dressed first and then she set out some clothes for us. I got a pair of new blue jeans with a button up blue shirt. I put them on and they fit rather well. They were fresh and new. It’s been a while since I had clothes that were clean and new. When I was dressed I came down the stairs, I saw that the table only had some cereal bowls set up. I sat down and grabbed a bowl and filed it with corn flakes. The little ones came down and started to eat their cereal with a sort of lag argic motion. Roxanne came down trying to hurrying them up. When I was done she immediately took my bowl and told me to go get ready to leave. Veronica was already by the door pulling on a purple jacket.   
“Hey Dami, guess what you got?”  
“I got new clothes.”  
“Not only that. Yesterday we went to Walmart, and got some new clothes and we even got you some new shoes!” she held up a pair of black sneakers that were my size.   
“That’s pretty awesome. They look so cool.” She handed them to me and I saw her tying up her own boots that looked new. I sat down and slid the shoes on. Randal, ash and Jerold all came in next and they too were wearing new clothes.  
“You all look very nice.” She came to each of us and changed a small thing about how we dressed ourselves. She fixed Veronica’s hair, Randal’s collar, Ash’s laces, and Jerold bottom up shirt that he managed to Miss Button. When she was done with him she turned to me. She looked me up and down judging how I dressed myself. I thought she was going to let me go, but instead she instead just grabbed the edges of my shirt and started to stuff it into my pants. I tried to run off but she just yanked me back by the waist line of my pants.  
“Uh ha uh. No Damian. You have to look your best.”  
“You could have just told me to tuck it in.” I rasped out. She finally finished and turned me to face her. Smoothing my spiky hair back.   
“But then you wouldn’t ever feel embarrassed of me. And if you are going to start school, you’re going to need that.” Roxanne explained. I huffed and turned away from her to see Jane, sally come out of the kitchen. Pulling on their shoes and coats. Just about everyone was here. Roxanne went to grab the rest of everyone while we waited by the front door, in a moment she came back with everyone. She led us out of the front door and motioned for everyone to go out. As she was closing the door she started to lead us out.   
As she started walk she made each of us grab hands with someone. Sally grabbed Isabella hand, Jane grabbed David’s, Veronica grabbed Jerold’s, I quickly grabbed Ben’s so I wouldn’t have to hold Ash’s or Randal. There was no way I was walking around in public holding their hand. Randal and Ash looked away each other from a moment before they looked away from each other and just ended up standing close to each other.   
“Boys. No exception.” Roxanne said as she took her place at the front of our line. Randal let out a loud whine before just snatching Ash’s hand. They both had a light red hue to their faces. HA!   
Roxanne began to walk us forward with each of us walking in pairs. Ben started to talk about what was so great about school. Apparently, his class let him have free time do what he wanted. He really liked that time. I let him talk my ear off for the duration of the walk to the school that was about three miles down.   
When we got there Roxanne told the kids to go to class while she set us up. She led the rest of us inside of the building to an office where a front desk was stationed. A women with think rimmed glasses sat at desk, typing away on an ancient looking computer. Roxanne cleared her throat to gain the women’s mention. When she looked up and saw that Roxanne was with a group of kids she cleared her own voice.   
“New entries?”  
“Yup, got them here passed week. Need they placed?”  
“Ok, they’re going to need be tested to see where it’s best to put them. Here fill these out, and if the rest could come with me, I can set them up with the counselor, so they can go through the placement.” She stood then and came around the desk to lead us.  
“You all follow her and do as she says.”  
I nodded and followed the women to a back hall way that lead us to a row of closed doors. When we got all the way back she opened up a door that led to some kind of conference room. To motioned us to sit down and wait till someone named Mrs. Keystone came in. I sat down in one of the swivels chairs and waited. Not long after a young women came in with her arms full of papers. She had her hair pulled back in a tight pony tail.   
“Hello there, umm you all have to take these tests to actually start school. I know, I know. Bleh!” She stuck her lounge out and shook her head a little.   
“Just put down your name there. The first segment is English, then math, then science. When your done just put it in this folder and then we can enroll you. “She came behind each of us and handed us a thick package of papers. Then she put out a package of pencils.  
“Good luck!” she held up a thumbs up and went out again. I reached out and started the test. It was all rather simple. I went through the English and math real easily, when it came to the science part I scoffed at it. This was all I learned when I was 4. I was done within the hour. My friends were not though. They all took their time. I saw Veronica double checking her math before folding her packet and stuffing it in the folder. When everyone else was done we all sat there for a moment before Veronica stood up and went out the door. Jerold and I soon followed her.  
“Great! You guys finished in just going to go and take these to be scanned. Just go back and wait in there. Shouldn’t be more than 20 minutes. With that she flittered away.   
“I can’t believe my school career is going to be decided in 20 minutes.” Randall said as he threw himself into the chair.  
“I’m sure you did fine Randall.” Ash said. Randal just rubbed his face and looked down to his lap.  
I sat down and just waited patiently. I’m sure I did fine. I never once failed a test. I always passed and met each of my expectations. Grandfather never complained about my knowledge.   
We waited for a few minutes when Roxanne came through the door.  
“Hey guys, how it go?” Randall just groaned loudly. Roxanne came by him and patted his head. We sat there making small talk about dinner. Within a few minutes though Mrs. Keystone came back with big smiles.   
“Hey guys. I see that your guardian is here which is good. You guys managed to do pretty well in your tests. Unfortunately, Randall McCreed is going to need to stay behind in a year for his math and Ash Assesl, your English is a bit behind for your grade so you are going to be put in the speed program as well. Now, you two will attend classes with your age group, but you will have a different schedule for those classes.” Both Randall and Ash banged their head on the table.  
“I know, but if you guys work hard enough you can catch up, one more thing. I need to talk to Damian about a few things. If I could have Roxanne and him come with me.” uh oh. What happened?  
I stood up and Roxanne just stared at me. I followed Mrs. Keystone out and to a smaller room that was covered in colorful posters. She gestured for me and Roxanne to sit down.   
“Ok, let me just say, he did nothing wrong. Just that I need to discuss a few things” Roxanne nodded and settled herself down.   
“Ok, first, Damian, you didn’t put a last name down.”  
“I don’t have one.” She gave me a sad look at that. I did, but I’m pretty sure that saying it wasn’t a good idea. I’m sure that Grandfather had disowned me at this point.   
“Ok, I’ll just put you down as unenviable for the time being. The next thing is your test. Damian. What kind of schooling did you have?”  
“Nothing. This would be my first school I’ve been to.”   
“Damian, are you sure? Your test scores say otherwise.” I just shrugged at her.  
“Mrs. Damian got a perfect score on his placement test.”   
“What does that mean?”  
“It means that if he wanted to, he could just go to college.”   
“But he’s 12.”  
“Yes, I think the best we could is put him in advance classes till he is a more suitable age, but Damian, are you ok with this?”   
“I don’t really care.” I said nonchalantly.   
“Ummm, ok. Damian, you will be placed in higher classes starting later this week. ok? ok. Umm lets go back.” She stood up and so did we. Roxanne grabbed my shoulders and started to direct me to the door. I let her walk me back to the conference room where the others waited. When we walked in, Jerold stood up and waited till we all filed in.  
“Ok, well for now, you guys can go home, but be here tomorrow. You guys start your classes. Just remember to come the office first to get your schedule.” With that she dismissed herself.   
“Alright, everyone up. Time to go home and get ready for school.” We got up and left the room and then the school. As we walked back to the house Roxanne began to talk to us about how we would be meeting with Jane and Sally in the morning to walk to school and then how we would walk back to the house.   
When we got back to the house I saw that I only had enough time to eat before I would go to work. Roxanne made a simple lunch for me, before letting me go with a proud smile. I said goodbye to everyone and told them I’d be back later.   
I was walking to the diner when I saw a police cruiser out of the corner of my mind. I brief evaluation told me it wasn’t Grayson, but that just reminded me that id need to deal with him soon. Hopefully when I got the school I could use their computer with no supervision. That way I can see what information I could get on him. I made it to the diner and went inside. I hung up my coat and started my work.   
The same man from before was sitting at the same booth as before. When he saw me come out, he smiled at me and I waved at him. As I cleaned up the tables near him he asked me what I was doing before this. I told him I had just started school. He seemed intrigued by this,  
“How’s that going?”  
“Ummm, it’s ok. I’m honestly just buying time I guess. You know till I’m old enough to graduate.”   
“College?”  
“Probably. Already taking the classes for that.” He seemed to pop up at that. Like he was proud of that.  
“Really? You must be pretty smart. Must get it from your old man, huh?” I paused at that. I never gave my father much thought, I can remember when I was young. He’s all I ever wanted to know about. Id bother mother anytime I had free about him.   
Mother.  
I tried to avoid thinking about her. Every time I did, I felt so conflicted. A part of me loved her and only had memories of her smiling loving face. Another part of me, was filled with fear and hatred. Grandfather tried to resurrect her with her the pits too, but there was something stopping her from coming all the way back. Now, whenever I tried to picture her, it was always a dark room with a stilled body on a bed.   
I looked up and saw that the man was staring at me intensively. I must have gotten lost in thought. What was he talking about again? Oh yeah, being smart.  
“Maybe, my grandfather was pretty smart and my mom was smart so maybe they just added together and got me. I’m sure even if my dad was a dunce, I’d be pretty smart.” He chuckled at that and took a sip from his coffee.   
I went about my night as the others and got home with Jerry later that night. Roxanne was waiting for us at the door like usual. We ate dinner together with her telling Jerry about me taking advance classes. Jerry lightly punched my arm, laughing at the fact that of course id be smart enough for that.   
I finished my plate and went to take a shower. When I was done I went upstairs to see that Randal, Ash, and Jerold were doing the same thing as they did the past night. I hoisted myself up and pushed Jerrold a bit more to the side so I could lay back.   
We talked quietly about what we did the rest of the day. I think Randal just didn’t want to think about school for the time being, so I told him about the book I was reading. Soon Jerry came in and shooed everyone to bed. He did his customary body slam into the bed, making everything shake. I laid down once it settled and let my mind wander. Soon enough, I was sleeping with everyone. A part of me, waiting for tomorrow to come.


	18. ch. 14

“Damian! Wake up! It’s time to get ready!” I felt someone smacking my face. I groaned and buried my face deep into my pillow. “No no no no no. you need to get up Dami.” Veronica was in our room trying to wake me up. She was lightly slapping my face again.   
“Stop it Veronica. I’m awake.” I grounded out as I pushed her hand away. I sat up in my bed and slumped down almost immediately. I was so tired for some reason.   
“Come on then. You need to get dressed.” She threw a pair of blue jeans at me and a random long sleeved blue shirt. They landed in my lap. “Go down stairs to eat and then get ready to leave. Running behind.” Veronica breezed out after that. I looked around and saw that everyone else seemed to be already halfway dressed. I yawned and looked down at my lap. I was still under my blanket, I threw it off me and hopped down. I stretched my arms up and felt a pop in my shoulders. I felt the need to do some of my old work out routines. I hadn’t been doing them lately and I could feel myself losing my tone. Hopefully there will be some kind of gym I can do some real exercise at school.   
I got dressed quickly and went down stairs where there was a bowl of oatmeal waiting for me. I saw Randal was shoving spoon full into his mouth. I started to put spoon full into my own mouth. Not to the ferocity as Randal, but with a quick pace. Once done, Jane came in and grabbed my bowl and put it in the kitchen to be washed later. I went to the front door and grabbed my jacket from the closet. Sally was waiting there and she handed me a red backpack that felt like it only had a few notebooks and maybe a pencil case.  
I waited for everyone else to get their jackets on before Sally ushered us through the front door. When we got out, I grabbed Ben’s hand before ash or Randal could. Everyone matched up and we started to walk the same path we did yesterday.   
“Damian, you and I are taking the same classes for the most part, so just stick close to me.” Sally said to me. her back still to me as she walked forward. Her voice felt a bit more fridge than earlier. Now that I thought about it. She didn’t even look at me today. She held Isabella’s hand as they walked forward.   
When we finally reached the school I looked up and saw a bunch of kids with backpacks file into the large building. I gulped a bit nervous now that I was standing here. I brushed it off though. I was a world class assassin. There is no reason at all for me to be nervous at the prospect of going to a new school.  
Randal came from behind me and wrapped his arm around my head pulling me back. “Hey, Dami. Don’t worry. You’ll do fine and if shit hits the fan, just come find me. I’ll beat up any bullies.” I scoffed at him and threw his arm off my head.  
“Please. It should be the other way around.” I jeered at him. He gave me a sheepish grin before throwing up his arms.  
“Dami is right. He’d kick your ass in a heartbeat. I’m more worried about what he’d do the other person.” Jerold said. I smirked at him and feeling my confidence come back ten folds.  
“Oh please. Jerold, I’d be more worried about you.” Randal shot back. Jerold scrunched his nose up, but Randal’s usually light brown eyes darken a bit. I looked between the two of them. I felt like there was something I was missing.   
“Ok, you guys need to get to class. Go to the front desk to get your schedule. Damian, I’ll see you in class.” I nodded at her and she was gone. Her high pony tail smacking Ash in the face as she aggressively turned.   
Jane looked at us and shrugged her shoulders as she gave us a lazy salute before walking away. The little ones were already running with their friends towards the school. I sighed and hefted my backpack up and started for the front entrance. The building was full of kids my age and younger. I looked up to Randal and he flared his nose at me. I looked up and saw the front office where we were yesterday. Veronica led us in and she got the receptionist attention. She gave us an overview of the place as quick as she could and gave us our schedules, then went back to whatever she was doing. We left the office and went to the hallway where we would need to separate.   
“Meet here after class ok?” Ash said.  
“Damian, you have lunch right before mine. Meet here after yours?”  
“Yeah, let’s meet here. That way we can stay InTouch.” This was awkward. I didn’t really think about the fact that we would be separated. I mean we aren’t, we are in the same building, but we won’t be able to see each other when we feel like it. I felt the uncomfortable in my chest again. I didn’t want to show it, but I took comfort in knowing that everyone else seemed to hesitate. Luckily, a bell above rang and we had to leave. I left and went up a pair of stairs that led to a long hall way that had a bunch of doors that were closed. I looked down at my schedule and it said that id be in science for the first part of the morning. I found my room number and knocked. A middle aged man answered and ushered me in. he sent me to sit in a seat that was off on the side and told me to wait till he was done with instructions. I plot down in my desk and listened to him talk. It was rather simple work still. Nothing I hadn’t done before. I let myself zone out till he was done.  
I was brought out though when I heard a decent slap on my desk as the teacher dropped a stack of books on my desk. I looked up at him and he smirked a bit at me with some kind of hidden enjoyment at me not noticing him. Must have figured I wasn’t paying attention and was trying to get back at me. Well he wasn’t wrong, but I wasn’t scared by him.   
“This is all you have to work with young man. Now it may look like a lot, that’s because it is. If you want to be in this class you have to work for it.” I lifted an eye brow at him, but didn’t reply. I reached forward and saw that it was basic chemistry and math. Pfft this man had no idea.   
I flipped open to the page I heard him early give instructions on and start the equations. I felt him sift to look over my shoulder as I did the work in a flash and then him straighten up as I was almost done in 10 minutes.   
“Ok, so you have been exposed to this before. Well since that doesn’t seem to faze you how about this?” he threw down some math homework and I just shrugged and finished up the chapter. When I was done I stacked them off to the side and started on the math homework. It was algebra so it was rather simple. Once again I began to tear through it. I didn’t even bother to pay attention to him at this point. I let my mind drift off into the nothingness that doing mundane math problems allowed me. It was a nice lull in the constant stress I was feeling. Something only sleep had allowed me. When I reached the last problem I looked up and saw that the teacher was at his desk now. Sitting, but constantly looking up at me. The other students were just finishing up their chapters and moving on to the math. When most of them were there the teacher stood up and began to lecture. I let my mind wander again for the time being. I needed to figure out how to deal with Grayson. He could blow my cover if I wasn’t carful with him. He seemed rather desperate for me to accept him. Maybe if I sought him out he’d be willing to back off a bit. He’d be more open to listening to my wishes and plans. I also have to check up on this nightwing guy. I don’t have much information about him, but it would be best to find out about nay possible hero’s that might run into any assassins. I’m sure grandfather is still looking for me. If I wasn’t careful, he’d find me and destroy this life.   
The bell rang again and I looked up to see my fellow classmates getting up and walking out the door. They left their belonging at their desks. I looked down to my schedule and say that all it said was gym. I looked around again and just followed this boy. I followed him all the way down the stair case and turned right. I large sign above a corridor said GYM. I looked around and walked through the double doors.   
“Ah! There you are. I knew we were getting some new students today. Ok, so my name is Mrs. Kraysky. Now you don’t have any gym clothes, but you can still play in that.” I looked down to my jeans and sneakers. Yes this was still doable for most activities. I looked up and saw that another teacher was pushing a cart of basketballs out. The teacher told me to go and join any team and to start playing. It was a free day apparently. Whatever that meant. I nodded and walked up to the team where the boy I had met earlier was on. Well followed at least. I asked to join and none of them had objections.   
It was fun. I can’t say I have ever played basketball, but it felt like I had. I mean I had the rules down, but never had to chance to really play it. My body though, it felt like it was going through the motions. Like it was something it knew. My team was winning and I was making shots. I made another basket when the teacher blew her whistle. I looked up and saw that we had won. My teammates were cheering and making jeers at the other team. I smiled and tossed the ball over to one of them. They took it and ran off to change. I walked out and waited for the same boy to come out. When he did he waved t me and we walked back to class. When we got there I saw Sally sitting in the back. I waved bye to the guy and walked over to her. When I sat down she looked up and just rolled her eyes.   
“So, ummm, what are we doing now?” 

“This is free study time. You can use it do your next reading assignment or whatever work you didn’t finish. Some just like to use the computers in the lab to mess around.”   
“Ok, umm thanks.” I left her to devices. I felt like she was angry with me for some reason. I would deal with it later, maybe she will get over it on her own. I walked over to where a sign was attached that read Lab and assumed it meant the computer lab.   
I walked in and saw a line of computers up against the wall. There was a few others in here, but for the most part people were in the other room. Sitting down in the plastic chair I started it up. First thing first. Grayson. I needed to know everything about him.   
Doing a cursory search yielded very little information. He was from Gotham, so that part of this story was true. He was the adopted son of Bruce Wayne though. That was interesting. Digging a bit deeper I found out that his current place of residence wasn’t too far away. Hmmm, maybe I can sneak out during the hours everyone is asleep and break into his home to get more information on him.   
Making up my mind I decided that the next night I worked, I would wait for the others to sleep and id sneak out through the window. Now that I head a plan for Grayson, time to see who about this night the him other than that he was speculated to be part of the Bat clan. That was weird. I thought that meant like Batgirl. Batswomen, Batman and well robin. Huh, two bird themed costumes. Yeah I can see it.   
That being that though caused more issues. I’d need to stay very low. The last thing I needed was for Batman see me again. I was turning off the computer when the bell rang again. This time it was for lunch. I left the room to the hallway again. I looked around for the boy I was following earlier, but he was nowhere to be found. I looked around and saw a small group of kids going down. I followed them down the stair case to a large cafeteria. It was full and loud. I could hear him clanking of trays and the loud chatter of kids. I looked around and saw that sally was here too. I was tempted to go sit with her, but she was angry with me for some reason. Besides she didn’t seem like she wanted me to intrude with her friends. I looked around and got into line with everyone else. I waited and got some kind of soup it looked like.   
I got out of line and walked till I found a vacant spot. I sat down and started to push the soup around. I didn’t feel like eating right now. I was just lost in my thoughts about nightwing. I needed to think of a way to run into him or maybe to shadow him. But I was constantly being watched. I would need to be careful with sneaking out to corner Grayson and that be a onetime thing. Nightwing might take weeks to track down and shadow long enough to get a good beat on his habits. I decided I was done with my lunch after a few bites and waited for the bell to go off.   
I got up right before the bell rang and dug into my pocket for my next class. It was art. Huh. I began walking to the hall way where I agreed to meet up with Jerold earlier and looked around for him. I saw his short stature against the crowd and slid his way.   
“Hey, Jerold. How’s your day going?”  
“It’s ok. Pretty intense, but honestly I feel like my brain is melting a bit. How about you?”  
“I honestly am have fun. In Gym we played basketball. It was fun.”  
“Really, I don’t have that till last. Hopefully we play it too. Maybe when we have a free day we can try to play it at the park across the street.”  
“That be fun. We can team up and beat the crap out of Randal and Todd.”  
“Who’s Todd?”  
“Todd?”  
“Yeah, you said Randal and Todd. Who’s that?”  
“No idea, must be a slip. Meant Ash.”  
“Ah ok. Well better get going to lunch. I’m starved.”  
“Good luck with that. We had soup and it was pretty gross.”   
“Ahhh, I don’t care. Id eat anything.” And with that he was gone and I was left with walking to class alone again and trying to figure out why I had slipped. I felt like I was doing that a lot lately. Jason and Todd. Jason and Todd. Jason Todd. I should look that up tomorrow. I felt like it was important person and my brain was starting to pulsate at me. Better to lay off it for now.  
I walked over to the class room and I could smell paints. I walked into the room and saw that a women with frizzled hair was walking around the room organizing whatever she had planned that day. I walked forward and chose a random seat in the front.   
“Hi there! You’re here early.” I smiled at her and just nodded yes. As I waited for the rest of the class to come in I watched the women continue setting up. When the room was full she stopped and started her lecture. When she was done she told us to use the paints that she instructed and to try and create something with it. I was excited about it. I grabbed my paints and paper and sat down. I thought about tit for a minute and started in on it. I wanted to get this perfect. It’s been so long since I was able to paint.   
I stared by making the sun set and then the birds. I wasn’t quite sure what type of bird it was, but it looked like a robin by the end of it. I had painted an orange, yellow and pink sunset and four robins flying towards it. I was proud of it, but it left some kind of longing in my chest. A part of me want to be flying with them. I put my paint brush down and walked over to the sink to start cleaning up my brushes. The teacher came up to my painting and she began to gush over it.  
“Damian! This is beautiful. I haven’t seen something like this in so long.” I looked over to her and felt myself blushing again.  
“Thanks.”  
“Do you like art, Damian?”   
“Yeah, I do. This is my favorite.”   
“I love the passion Damian and you are indeed talented.”   
I rubbed my neck again and turned back to washing up my area.  
“Thank you.” I finished up and she went to my painting again. She picked it up and put it with the rest. I waited for the bell to ring again and I went to my last class of the day which was English. I went and found the boy I had followed that earlier that day. I followed him into the room and sat down at a random seat. I waited there till the teacher came in. he was a bit late, but it was the same one form this morning. He looked over to me and scrutinized me. I looked back to him the same way and he huffed and faced the chalk board. He went on to talk about the book they were reading that day.  
I barely listened to as he went over the apparent last reading by Geoffrey Chavcer. I remembered reading him as a child so I just ‘tt’ and zoned out till the last bell of the day went off. I sighed in relief and stood up and began to collect my things. I threw my coat on and grabbed my bag and went to the front of the school. Randal and Ash were already there waiting. Randal looked worse for wear, while ash seemed like he was fine. As I was walking I felt someone come up behind me and pat my shoulder I looked over and saw Jerold short stature. I smiled at him and we walked together over to the two of them.  
“Hey guys. How was the first day of the rest of our lives?”  
“Don’t say it like that. Makes it sound like we are purgatory or something.” Ash smacked Randal’s head.  
“I had an alright time. It wasn’t horrible.” I said. Ash gave me and incredulous book and Randal stuck his tongue out at me in disgust.  
“Looks like we have a nerd among us.” I felt Veronica come behind me and toss me against her. I bounced against her harmlessly.   
“I’m not a nerd. I just like art a lot. We got to pain today.” I was really happy about that. I was having fun in it and was looking forward to it.   
“Hehehehehe, I bet. Look there’s the rest.”  
I looked up and saw that Sally and Jane were walking towards us. I wondered where the little ones were. Right as I thought that I felt a small weight hit me and a loud ‘boo’ come from below me. Ben and David had tried to tackle me and Randal. I laughed at them and pushed David off me.   
Jane and sally finally made it to us and they told us to follow them home. I grabbed David’s hand and we started to walk home. The whole time David was telling me about his day and then Ben would chime in. Isabella would try to talk too, but Sally was holding her hand and she didn’t seem to keen on letting slow them down on such a cold day.   
When we got back we waited for Sally to open the door. When she did we took turns going in and taking off our shoes. When I had my coat hung up and shoes off I got up and went to the table to start on my homework before work. I was excited to tell Jerry about basketball. I hope that he’d be willing to play with me and Jerold one day.   
Sally sat across from me and started doing her own homework. I saw that we were both doing our math homework. We had the same work and saw that she was stuck doing it. Oh that why she angry with me. She’s having a hard time with her math. I finished that back in class so I tried to offer her to check mine. She scoffed at me and told me to do my work. I nodded and sat back down started on my English reading. It was nice to loose myself in book again. I looked up and saw that it was almost time for me to leave. I got up and threw my book back into my bag and left it in front of the door. I walked into the kitchen and looked for a snack to hold myself over for the next few hours. When I was ready to leave I got up and yelled out a goodbye to everyone. Randal and Ash, who were in the living room got up and said goodbye to me and Jerold told me to be safe walking there. Veronica yelled down for me to grab an extra hat or something. It was cold out.   
I left the house after that and started walking to the diner. I was in a bit of a hurry to see Jerry and tell him what happened. I got there in record time. When I walked in I saw that Jerry was leaning out of his small window in the kitchen waiting for me. When he caught sight of me, his face lighten up and he smiled down at me.   
“Hey, Dami! How was school?”  
“It was pretty fun. I got to play basketball and a lot of other things.”  
“Really? Come back here and tell me some more.” I nodded and hung up my coat. I was making my way to the kitchen when I saw the man from before sitting in his usual booth watching me. I waved at him and he waved back at me. In another corner I saw a dark head duck down further into the worn out booth. Pretty sure that was Grayson and him trying to be covert. I rolled my eyes for the time being and decided to just ignore him for now. Id deal with him tonight.   
When I walked in the kitchen Jerry was leaning against his work station and I went up to him.  
“So what else happened?”  
“Well, I had math first then science, and it was so easy. The teacher is going to have fun trying to get me stumped.”  
“Huh, really? Well you are pretty brilliant. Aren’t you?” he noogied my head and I swatted him away. I pushed him off my head. He chuckled a bit and pushed for more.  
“Well, like I said. I got to play basketball. And well, I and Jerold were wondering if maybe…we…can like play it at home too. On our day off of course.” Jerry laughed at me and said that we would play Saturday. I smiled up at him in pure joy. I wanted to play it with everyone. I bet it would be monumental.   
I was shooed away to start my work and I grabbed my bin and went out. I went to the table Grayson was at first. He had left already and all that was left was an empty mug. I tossed it in and wiped down the table. Tonight I told myself. I went on about my business and got to the man’s table last. He didn’t say anything to me at first which was strange. He usually would ask me about my day and I would return the favor, but he seemed to be in some kind of mood. Like the first time I met him, he was rood. This time it seemed like he was in a sourer mood.   
“Hey, so…uhhh… how’s your day?” he looked up at me and he seemed to be surprised that I had asked him.   
“I’m ok, just tired.”   
“Ok.” I went back to wiping down the table. I guess he didn’t want to talk today. I was almost done when he spoke up again.  
“You like school?”  
“Yeah.”  
“You like basketball?”  
“It was pretty fun today and I wanted to play it with my older brother.” He seemed to flinch at that sentence. He grimaced again and I took it as my cue to leave. I left before he could say anything else. Which was good cause as I walked into the kitchen he looked up again and seemed to only then see that I was gone. I dumped my tray out in the washers section and just started to help the line with prepping for diner. When I peeked out the window to see the man he was gone. I was grateful. I didn’t want to deal with him being all sad and disappointed just because I didn’t answer in a way he wanted. I was having too much of a good day. Which hadn’t happened in a long time.   
I worked with Jerry for most of the night and when everything was cleaned up and done we parted ways with MR. Johnson at closing. As we were walking home I began to tell jerry about the rest of my day and about art class and how my teacher really liked my painting.   
“Well I can’t wait till you can bring it home and show me. But for now let’s go in.” I nodded and let Jerry usher me in. when we got into the house I hung up my jacket and took off my shoes. Roxanne was waiting for us as usual and she led us into the dining room where she had plates set up for us. I ate and told Roxanne about my first day again. She seemed happy that I was adjusting well. Apparently, Randal didn’t seem to like it very much, but he’d get used to it again. When I was done, I got up and went to the bathroom and showered real quick I would need to get to the room and put on some extra layers for tonight. Since I wouldn’t be able to wear my jacket out tonight and it be least a ten minute run to Grayson apartment and id need to say loose and warm.   
I jumped out and threw on my loose sweats. I left the bathroom and walked to the room. I could tell that Jerold was still awake on my bed while Randal was awake too, but I could hear Ash’s snores. I opened the door a bit and slipped in.  
“Hey, Dami.” Jerold whispered at me. I waved at him and went over to the dresser and started to rummage through it.  
“What you looking for?”  
“I’m cold, so I want to wear an extra layer for bed.”  
“Oh ok.” I found one of Jerry’s sweatshirts and threw it over me. The overly large black sweatshirt kind of swallowed me but it worked kind of like a poncho. I turned around and climbed into my buck with Jerold. He scooched over and laid down. I was too tired to really push him out so I laid down with him. He seemed content with it and we both crawled under the blanket. Jerry came in next and saw that Jerold was in my bunk with me.  
“Ok. Everyone to their own bunk. Time for bed.” Jerold groaned and climbed out and hoped down. I sat up and watched him go to his own bunk before laying back down and enjoying the warmth the bed had soaked from his body heat.   
“Why are you wearing my hoodie?”  
“Cold.”  
“Oh. Ok.” Jerry then threw himself into his bunk. I crawled into my blanket and listened to everyone’s breathing becoming even. When Jerry’s breathing finally sounded deep I sat up quietly and looked to the clock. It read 2:15. I had 2 hours to go and find Grayson, confront him and make it back here before Jerry woke up for work. I quietly got out of my bed. Making sure that my bed didn’t creak. I went to the door and opened it as quietly as I could and slipped out. The house was quiet and dark. I slipped into my assassin’s persona and used the darkness to my advantage. I walked to the living room’s window and opened one of the windows as quietly as I could and slipped out. I walked down the street and slipped into a nearby alleyway. I had about 2 hours to get this all done and be back to being Damian. For now though, I was back to being that run away assassin. I was back to being the defective Al Ghul.


	19. hi there...again

I was running as fast as I could. Vaulting over dumpsters and climbing fire escape with a practice of ease only someone with my type of training could have. It felt exhilarating I fell into a habit that had kept me alive for so many year. I was once again in an environment that I know I had mastered. I was a thing of the dark.   
I had managed to make it to the supposed building that was where this Grayson was supposed to be. I scoped the building and figured out that his window was the closest to the fire escape. How…convenient. I scaled up the side of the building rather than take the fire escape. I felt that it was too easy to go that way. Like it be expected. Instead I went to the other side of the apartment and climbed up. Once I was at the base of a window I looked in and saw that the apartment was for the most part dark, except for the two that was on in the living room. I slid the window open enough for me to slip through. Once I was in I closed it as a gently as I could. I crouched down and stuck to the shadows of the room to get as close I could to the couch. I heard soft snores coming from it. Grayson must have fallen asleep on the couch. Good. It make it easier for escape. I approached the couch from behind and listened for a moment. I crawled forward to the edge of the couch and looked over the body. It was large and looked heavy. It had some features that could have belonged to Grayson, but the man was taller than Grayson and his hair was different. The man had bangs and they were white. Huh, he looked familiar, but he wasn’t Grayson. Whoever this was though was not important. I crouched back down and made my way past the living room to the only other door in the apartment. I passed the kitchen and thought of grabbing a knife, but decided against it. This was not one of those visits.   
I was now in front of the door that led to what I assumed was his bedroom. I listened closely and heard soft breathing. I took a small breathe to calm my nerves and soundlessly turned the nob. I creaked the door open as slowly as I could.  
Snort!   
I stopped what I was doing and turned back to the man who was sleeping on the couch. He didn’t make any other noise except that one. He didn’t move or do anything other than go back to snoring quietly. I breathed out a sigh of relief and turned my attention back to the bedroom door. I opened it a bit more and slid into it. There was a body sprawled out on the bed. The breathing was even and heavy, signaling that he was asleep for now. I laid down on my stomach and slid across the floor. I made my way to the edge of his bed and crouched lower. I needed to get him to wake up and to stay quiet as to not alert his guest. I was debating just getting up and waking him or sitting on his throat to ensure he didn’t make a sound when I saw a piece of black cloth stuffed under his bed hazardly. I reached forward for it and gently tugged it out. It felt heavier than normal cloth and it was padded like armor in other places. I pulled it completely out and put it to the moon light.  
Fuck me with a lead pipe.  
Embolden on the front of the shirt was the nightwing insignia. I gritted my teeth in frustration. Ok, so Grayson was nightwing and he knew I existed already. Chance are that he told Batman I was here as well and was just trying to get me to fall for one of his stupid tricks to trust him. I popped up in anger. I was just so angry. I just wanted to live my life, but I was constantly playing this god damn game of tag. No more. I need to take a stand now. Against anything.  
I not so gently climbed on top of the man and sat on his chest so I had a clear view of him. He woke up the moment I was on top of him, but was still a bit groggy from being woken up. That wasn’t good enough for me. I lifted my hand and slapped him. Hard. That got his attention. He stared up at me and his cornflower blue eyes were wide in shock.   
“Dami?”   
“Surprise? I was.” I lifted up his suite and let him put two and two together so that way he understood ha I knew everything.   
“I was going to tell you eventually know. Just wanted to get to know you. Just like you wanted to get to know the others before you tell them. Or were you ever going to?”  
“Don’t try to spin this around. It seems we reached pint where there is no turning back for either of us.” Grayson took a moment to lay his head back down on his pillow and close his eyes. He tried to lift his hand up to his face but I put more pressure on his arms to make sure he didn’t. I wasn’t taking any chances.   
“Listen, we can talk more clearly if you get off me.”   
“By the way you acted, I’d say you’d prefer this.”  
“Please don’t bring that up. Jason is never letting me live that down.” I rolled my eyes at him and eased up enough so he could rub his face.   
“Dami, you hit hard. Still.”   
“Why do you keep acting like you know me? We don’t.”  
“No we do. Just that dip into the pit seemed to have messed up your head.” Dip into the pit? Did he mean the Lazarus pits?  
“Why would I ever need to go into the pits?” I was testing him to see if he knew what happened.  
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe the fact that you died and your crazy grandfather thought that brainwashing you with it was the best choice in your resurrection” Grayson seemed to be legit upset. I shifted my weight a bit off him a bit. He knew that I died. Did he know how? Even I didn’t know how. Grandfather said it was for the best. I watched him rub his cheek for a bit more before I made my next move.  
“How did I die?” he stiffened immediately. I looked at me for a real long time before he his breathe came out in a short ragged breathe.   
“I guess that makes sense you wouldn’t remember that huh? If he didn’t than you would come back to us. He’d need to erase that too.”   
“That didn’t answer my question, Grayson.” He reached up to me with his one hand and tried to touch my face. I backed up a bit, but the ears about to start spilling out his eyes softened me up. I let him cup my face regardless of the danger he posed doing that. He seemed like he needed the physical contact more than anything.   
“Oh Damian. I missed you. My boy.” He was full on sobbing now and I didn’t know what to do. His tears pooled around his head and I felt pretty awkward just sitting on him as he sobbed. I untangle myself from him and stood up. I felt like it be best if I let him calm himself first before we continued, but I seemed like that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. When I tried to take a step back he lurched forward and grabbed me and pulled me to him. I was now half laying on him and half on his bed as he cradled my head to his chest, still sobbing and calling for me. My whole body was stiffed and I was about at my limit with contact with him. Granted I felt bad about a grown man crying on me, but I felt like I needed help.  
That’s when I remember the man I saw on the couch. Maybe he was close enough to Grayson to get him to calm down so we could find a good middle grown. I tried to dislodge myself from the man, but he just held on tighter when I tried to get away from his suffocating embrace. I tried to shoosh him, but he just got louder. At this point I was hoping that the man on the couch would hear him and come to check on him. My prayers were not answered and I was forced to slip from his grasp, but before he could lunge for me again I put up my hands to tell him that I was coming back. I walked out of the room, but left the door open so he could watch me maneuver around his apartment. I went up to the couch and saw that the man was still laying there. His breathing still undisturbed.  
How this man could sleep through Grayson’s sobbing I had no clue, but it pissed me off. I went around and kicked his ribs. He jerked up and coughed. Cussing when he was finally able to breathe. His sharp blue eyes snapped to me, his mouth ready to cuss me out for kicking him while he was asleep, but the moment he saw me his jaw dropped. His blue eyes widened and he seemed to lose whatever thought processes he had.  
“I need your help with Grayson. He won’t stop blubbering.” I pointed to Grayson who had tears still streaming down his face, but was now snickering at this man face. The man nodded his head and stood up quietly. He took my shoulders and maneuvered me around so I could be led to the kitchen. When we were in the open up a cabinet and took out a glass cup and filled it up with water.  
“Go take this to him so he can calm down.” Nodded and took the cup and walked down the hall to Grayson. The man followed close behind me. I felt very uncomfortable being caged in like this. Two men that might be just as well trained as me, but I felt like they would do any intended damaged to me. Intended being my keyword.   
I handed Grayson the glass and he took it with a small thanks. I nodded and stuffed my hands in my sweatshirt pockets. I was now just waiting for Grayson to be back to normal a normal thought processes. When he seemed like he was calm enough he put down his glass and shifted on his bed.  
“Soooooooo, what did I miss?”   
“Well, Damian here found out I’m Nightwing and he was upset about that. “ Grayson supplied.  
“And why would you?” the man looked down at me. I looked up to him and felt a weird sense of Déjà vu.   
“Nightwing is part of the Bat Clan. Batman kidnapped me. So safe to say we are not on good term, and anyone who works with him is an automatic threat.” Grayson seemed like he wanted to argue with me and that point, but the man lifted his hand and silenced him.   
“If that is true, where does that leave us?”   
“I don’t know. I don’t want to fight you all, but I will. I just want to be with my friends for as long as I can.” The man nodded his head in understanding.   
“We just want you to be safe Damian.” Grayson again reached for me and I had to fight against my instincts to lean towards him. I leaned back out of his reach, but he seemed ok with me rejecting him for now.   
“He’s right Dami. Your grandfather is still looking for you. That’s why you went to Gotham right? Your grandfather won’t go into Batman’s territory right?”  
“Yes, but Batman would turn me in. I am a trained assassin. I’m dangerous.” Grayson slid off his bed and crouched down to me. I tried to back up again, but he just gently cupped my face between his hands again.   
“Don’t be afraid of that Damian. Batman just wants to save the innocents. If you tell him that you didn’t want to be an assassin he will love to help you.” I hesitated a moment.  
“How do you know?” I hated how small I sounded there, but I was afraid. I didn’t want to be hunted down by Batman or my grandfather anymore. Maybe nightwing would be willing to help me convince batman from trying to lock me up. Maybe I’d be able to stay with my friends.   
Grayson looked up to the man and then back to me. “He wouldn’t dare hurt you Dami. There so much we need to tell you, but I don’t want you to get over loaded. Just, please, trust me on this. I won’t let anything bad happen to you again.” I nodded my head and rested my head on his shoulder. I felt so tired all of sudden and I just wanted to sleep. I felt like I was finally getting somewhere I my life and having Grayson take on some of the weight made me feel so much lighter.  
I looked up to the clock and saw that it read 4:10. Shit. I pushed off of Grayson ruining whatever scene we were making and making my way to the window.  
“Whoa! Where are you going?” the man asked.  
“I have to get back before the others wake up. I’ll meet up with you guys later. Whoever makes the next move?” And with that I was out the window and into the early cold morning. I was back to jumping and vaulting over dumpsters and fire escapes. I made it back in record time. I slipped in the same way I slipped out. The house was still dark and there was no sound of any movements. I crouched down to the floor and started up the stairs. When I reached the boys room door I listened and when I counted everyone’s breathe I opened the door. I slipped in and everyone was sound asleep. I tip toed by jerry who was snoring deeply and grabbed the bars of my bunk and hefted myself up. The moment I landed on my bunk, I crawled under my blanket and held still. Counting the moments till I felt jerry stir and turn over in his sleep. The clock read 4:50. I had ten minutes to spare till Jerry wakes up. I sighed and laid fully down and counted in my head. I was so hyped up with the new information I had gotten that night. There was a chance that Batman won’t throw me to the wolves and maybe Grayson knew how I died. I needed to get into contact with him soon to talk more. Till then, I let my body relax to the sounds of everyone’s breathing.


	20. ch. 16

Veronica was slapping me again. I didn’t even need to open my eyes to see that it was her. It was time to wake up again for school. I left my self-up, but kept my eyes closed so as not to shock my body.   
“Come on Dami, time to wake up.” she tried to grab my hand and drag me out of my little cocoon I made with my blanket, but I let my body become heavy. She jerked my hand forward a bit before giving up. I let myself fall back into my bed and ignored the moment that was going on in the room. Veronica huffed and I heard her call Randal over to help her. What could Randal do?   
A second later I felt him climb up to my bed. He shook me not so gently calling for me to wake up. I groaned and pushed his hand away. He put his hand under my head and hefted me up.  
“Time to wake up Dami.” He pulled my head up and ran his fingers through my hair. I just let my head fall to his shoulder. He was warm and comfortable. He sighed and put his other hand under my legs and scooped me up. He did some kind of weird crotch movement and hopped off my bed. It was a shitty landing. He fell backwards on to Jerry’s bed. Luckily he didn’t drop me.   
“Put me down before you drop Me.” he laughed at me and let me go. I stood up and swayed a bit. I was so tired after last night. Man I really let myself go. I used to be able to stay up for days straight and be fine, but now I just feel so drained. And I needed to go to school. I groaned again and went to through on some pants and a shirt and go followed Randal down stairs. I saw that there was a bowl of warm oatmeal waiting for me. I ate it with gusto and finished it quickly. I then went to the front door and grabbed my coat and backpack. I waited for the others and when they were ready we started walking to school. We got there rather quickly and went our separate ways. I did all of my homework during class and waited for the bell to ring. During gym we did this weird exercise where we needed to run laps carrying this batons. It was weird but fun. The bell rang again and I went to my free time class. I just worked ahead in my math class and finished my English reading. The book was really good, even though it was second time reading it. When it was time for lunch again I sat alone again and just picked at my tuna sandwich. It was actually ok, but I was tired so I didn’t want to eat. Sally’s attitude with me was getting any better. But I hoped she’d worked through it.   
After lunch I met with Jerrold again and he told me about what he did in his classes. Apparently he was reading the lord of the flies. He really liked piggy. I didn’t have the heart to tell him what happens to the fat kid. He left and I went to art. My teacher was happy that I was early again and she offered for me to start a bit early. We were painting again today, but we need to follow the theme. The theme was winter wonderland. I nodded and grabbed some paint and started. I thought for a moment and started on painting a large landscape of white. With a large house I the corner of it. Two figures were making snow men. It was a common scene for families during the holidays. But I felt that longing again for the scene. I wanted to be part of the picture. The teacher came up to me and congratulated me on my picture. She fussed over my painting again pointing out how well I shaded the background. I thanked her and started to clean up my place. She put my painted back with my last one.  
“When will I be able to get my first one?” I asked her. She looked over to me and smiled.  
“Well, I was wondering if you might want to have you pictures in the school showing. It’s almost Christmas and the school hold an art fair. All you have to do is submit it and it get showed to everyone who is in the school. And if you get enough vote you can win an award. It’s fun.” I thought for a minute and thought why not. I didn’t need it immediately.   
“Sure. How do I submit it.” The Teacher squealed and ran over to a stack of colorful papers that were held up on her desk. She pulled out a blue form and hand it to me. I looked over it quickly and filled it out and handed it back to her. She looked over it for a moment and was about to file it again when she paused.   
“Wait, Damian. You need your last name.” I paused and looked up to her.  
“I don’t have one. I’m unclaimed.” She put a hand to her chest and apologized to me and went to file it. I nodded and left to my next class seeing as that the bell rang already. I went to my last class and just chilled till the last bell. I got up and went to the front of the school. When everyone got together we started to make our way to the house. Ben once again was chatting with David and Isabella. Randal and Ash were arguing about something having to do with Batman. It wasn’t anything important, but apparently they were coming up with theories on who he might be.   
We got back to the house and started to settle in. I was about to take off my jacket when Randal and Ash got my attention.   
“Hey, let’s go to the park and play some basketball.”   
“Are we allowed to?”  
“We asked Roxanne last night and she said as long as we have our homework done.” I smiled at them and followed them out. Randal led us to the park that was close to the house. Ash was bouncing a basketball all the way there. When we got to the park Randal threw off his jacket and crouched down.  
“Ok, who’s on what team?”  
“There’s only three of us so it be unfair.” I pointed out.   
“Can I play?” I looked over and saw a guy who looked to be a bit older than Randal and Ash standing on the side lines. He wore a nice fleeced coat and had a pair of sunglasses obscuring his eyes. His hair was cut into a crew cut.   
“Uhhh, why not? We need an extra player.” Ash said as he passed the ball to Randal. They ran to opposite side of the court. I took off my coat too and threw it with Randal’s and Ash’s. The guy did too and he ran forward to me.   
“So what’s your name?” I asked him. He looked at me and I felt like he was analyzing me. I didn’t like how it made me feel. It felt like he was looking down on me. I glared at him and he just smirked down at me. That made me even angrier with him.  
“Tim. Yours?” I scoffed at him. Tim. such a….simple name.  
“Damian.”   
We went against Randal and Ash. Randal tried to pass the ball to Ash, but I smacked it out of his hand before he could. The ball bounced once and Tim grabbed it before it went out of bounced. He dribbled it up court and was about to shoot, but Ash caught up to him and was guarding him. I sprinted down to him and Tim threw it to me. I caught it and layed it up to the basket. It swished in and we were in the lead.  
Tim came up to me and we congratulated each other. We dominated the game together and it was nice. It felt like we had found a rhythm and we just seemed to match. Every time I passed the ball to him, I t was like I didn’t even need to see where he was. I just knew where he’d be. I wonder if he was feeling the same thing.   
“Jesus. Damian, can’t just let us have one?” Randal complained. I snickered at him and spun the ball between my fingers. Tim came up and patted my shoulder.   
“Tim, we whooped these two butts.” I smiled up to him and he smiled down at me, but his eyes were peeking over his sunglasses now. There were sharp and I felt them watching me intensely. He was scrutinizing me again. I didn’t like it, but I let it go for now. Seeing as that we had just demolished Ash and Randal together, I’ll let him get away with it.   
“Yes we did. High five!” it felt so forced how he said it. I couldn’t stop myself from wincing from his voice. His body was stiff and his extended arm was just above me.  
“No, that’s just… that’s just wrong.” I cringed at the thought again but Randal didn’t drop it.  
“Now, Damian. Don’t leave your partner hanging.” Randal came up behind me and grabbed my hand. He lifted it up and tried manually making my hand slap Tim’s. I refused to let it happen though. I refused to let my hand touch Tim’s and Randal began to struggle with me. I just forced my hand down while he tried to lift it up.  
“Come on Damian. Just one high five!”   
“No! I’m not doing it! It’s lame!” Tim was laughing at me at this point. He didn’t lower his hand.   
“Ash! Help me!” Ash came in and started to force my hand up with Randal. I then started to use my full strength to stop them. Their combined strength could only lift my hand up t mid-level. I was struggling getting it out of the grip when I felt a soft slap to my palm. Looked up and saw that Tim was bringing his hand back to his side.  
“Did you just complete a forced high five?” I asked him incredulously. My voice higher than normal with indecency.   
“Yeah, I did.” he swaged his body to the left. Randal and Ash let me go snickering.  
“I feel so violated.” I joked as I looked at my hand. I wiped it on Randal and he yelled a ‘HEY’. Tim laughed at him and went to grab his Jacket.   
“Well I need to get going now. I’ll see you guys later.” Tim waved bye and walked away. I ran to grab my jacket too. Must be time for me to get to work.   
“I need to get to work guys. I’ll see ya tonight.” I called to Randal and Ash as I ran off to work. They waved at me and I ran to the diner. I made it there and walked in. I hung up my coat and went into the back. Jerry was cooking something on the stove and I went up behind him.  
“Hey Jerry. Jerry jumped up a bit and looked around.”  
“Hey Dami, you here already? How was school.” I told him how I was going to be in the art fair and he lit up at that.  
“Really? That’s great!” I smiled up to him and he asked me when it was so he could get the night off. I said I’d find out tomorrow because I couldn’t remember it. he said ok, and said that he busy cooking for now, but to stop by later. I turned and grabbed my bin gain. I went out to the lounge and started to clean up. I saw that today the broody man wasn’t alone today. He seemed like he was trying to shoosh the other occupant down, so I went up to his table.  
He looked up and gave me a full smile that would have put anyone else at ease, but he seemed like he was hiding something today. I came up to his table and looked over and saw Tim. I looked between the two and I felt my suspicion rise.  
“Hey, what’s up?” I asked looking between the two of them. The broody man’s face became like a mask and it was all ease and smiles. But the air he was giving off was that of someone who was nervous. Tim though just seemed to relax when I came in.  
“Hey Damian, what you doing here?”  
“I work here after school.” I said. He hummed and took a sip from his coffee.   
“That’s cool. How did you beat me here though? “   
“I ran here.” I said.   
“You two know each other?” Broody man asked us.  
“Yeah, we played some basketball before I came here. We were on the same team against his friends.” Tim explained to the man.   
“OH? And who won?”  
“tt, we did of course.” The man chuckled at me and went to grab Tim’s mug a dumping I into my bin so he couldn’t drink from it anymore. I relished in the look of enrage he gave me for doing that.   
“Bruce, it seems that Damian just wanted to tell us how he and I became so close to one another.” Where was he going with this? The broody man, now named Bruce, lifted a brow in interest.  
“Yeah, he gave me a big high five when we won.” Oh hell no.  
“No I didn’t. It was a forced high five. I didn’t give consent for it.” I argued with him. Tim mirthed at me. I could feel it. He was egging me on. He wanted me to snap at him, but I pulled myself back.  
“Hehehehehe” Bruce was giving out a deep loud chuckle at us. This is the first time he laughed out that loud. I ‘TT’ again and got up. I was done for now.   
“Oh come on Damian I was kidding” Tim called at me, but I was done for now and just retreated back into the kitchen to help with diner prep. I helped jerry for a while and we finished for the night. We walked back to the house. I was just ready to go home. I wanted to sleep. Jerry seemed to sense I was tired because he let me lean against him the whole walk there. I saw a pair of shadows jump from the roof tops a block down from us.  
“Looks like they’re at it again, huh?” Jerry held me closer to him as we kept going.  
“Night wing again?”  
“More than likely.” I nodded and just watched the figures run off. Grayson was night wing. So I suppose I should try to meet up with him soon. We still needed to figure out where this was leading us and I hope that he could indeed keep Batman from arresting me. Or at least putting me in a situation quickly. where grandfather could get me.   
We made it back to the house and saw that Roxanne was in her usual spot waiting for us. I told Roxanne about my day and she was happy that they would be able to see my art work soon. She saw that I was tired though and sent me to shower and go to bed. Which I did quickly. I was in my room fighting with Jerold for the covers before bed as usual. Jerry came in and made everyone go to their own bed. Jerold groaned but got up and went to his own bed. Jerry said a goodnight right as I was drifting off.   
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hi, so it’s been a while since I made a note on this story. Sorry about that. This was a more impromptu chapter that you can thank or hate NovaRainbow for. I honestly didn’t have much of plan for Tim this early in the story, but I do like his dynamic with Damian and how they always seem to push and pull each other. I hope this had enough fluff for you Nova. I’d like to thank also a few others.   
Little miss banana head: I love the name. Let me start with that. Also the hungry tiger thing was lovely o read when I woke up that morning so yes. Thank you and am happy you enjoy it.   
Zantannagirl: thank you for your continued support and it is lovely to hear from you and what it is you liked that chapter.   
Carely-carely-carely: yes this is on A03, it’s also on my reedit and my Tumblr. But my Tumblr hasn’t been updated since Ch. 2. Lol yeah.   
Anyway, so this story is still technically still at halfway point. I have 1.5 more major arcs for this story. Anything else others might want to see you can review, message, or whatever if you want more of something in the story. I might put it in or put it in a one shot. I am working on a collection of one shots with a ghost Damian and I will be putting out a Christmas special where it will be in a different world than this one. As usual, thank you for reading hi there… again. And enjoy.  
Walls


	21. ch. 17

I was being carried. To where I had no idea. I didn’t hear the usual bustle of the morning routines that were common for the house as we would be getting ready for the day. I debated opening my eyes, but decided that I need to keep up my cover. The person that was carrying me had me wrapped in a sheet as they walked. It was cold and I could hear the whistle of the wind against my back. By the way I was being cradled against the person, I could tell that they were male and well built.   
“You can say hi if you want.” I opened my right eye a peaked out at the person carrying me. It was night wing in his full outfit. He looked down at me and hefted me up me a bit more into him. My body smashed into his and I could feel his body heat leaking into me. I would have been grateful for the provided warmth, but considering the circumstance, I was inclined to be a bit angry and reluctant to accept anything from this man.   
“Put me down.” I demanded.  
“But then you might run.” He replied back bot missing a beat. I huffed and rolled my eyes.  
“Why are you doing this?”  
“I think it be good for you to see Batman now.” A rush of panic raised through me and I sat up. Almost propelling myself out of his arms. If he didn’t possess such quick reflexes I would have accidently jumped out of his arms.   
“What do you mean!? I thought we were supposed to talk a bit more before that?” I tried to squirm a bit out of his arms, not really trying to get out, but more as a way to express my frustration with the situation. He responded by tighten his arms around my body. I was now forced to smoosh my cheek against his collar bone.  
“Consider this a good chance to meet him in a more comfortable setting. If you waited, you might meet in more…aggressive environment.”   
“Tt, we already did and it was aggressive.” I muttered under my breathe, but he heard me any way. His mouth twisted and he made a weird sound in the back of his throat.  
“Well this time in here, so it’s going to be different. If you feel threatened just signal me and I will intervene.”  
“And how do I know you won’t just throw me at him?” Grayson literally flinched at my words. I felt a twinge of guilt at saying that, but it was a fear I had. Grayson barely knew me. And here he was saying he was going against The Batman. That’s no small feat.   
“Just trust me on this. I won’t let anything bad happen to you. Never again.” there he goes again saying things that make me confused and uncomfortable. Whenever he goes into this kind of mood, I just want to shut up and hope he goes back to his usual goofy self. He knew me when I died. He had to. The way he talks to me is way too comfortable.   
“Grayson?” he looked down at me with a raised eye brow.  
“Yeah?”   
“Did you know me before I died? You never answered me last night.” With me head smashed against hi chest I could hear the moment his breathing stopped and the moment he tried to let out a breath. It cam out shaky and forced.  
“I’ll wait to answer that Damian.”  
“So you did.” his answer was all I needed to know.  
“What wrong with me? I remember being perfect. My mother and grandfather made me perfect and when I woke up. I was this disaster.”   
“There’s nothing wrong with you, Damian. You only get better.”   
“Tt, whatever. Grayson I still want answers.” I demand. Forcing my body up so I could stare into his masked covered eyes. He smiled and shook his head lazily.   
“Later, promise.” I rolled my eyes again at him. I had to accept it because we were about to reach a large building that looked reminiscent of the warehouse I was sleeping in with Veronica and the others back in Gotham.   
“Wait, I’m not walking in with you holding me like this. Put me down.”  
“Sorry Damian. Got to make sure you get in.”   
“Put me down Grayson.” I twisted my body violently and got his hold loosen.  
“Come on Grayson! This is humiliating!” I whined at him. He just grunted as I elbowed him in the face. His paced slowed a bit, but he was still trying to get to the door. I refuse to go in there with the world most well-known crime fighter being carried like this. I thrusted my right hand under his chin and curled my left legs towards my chest before planting it firmly into his. It was enough for his arms to extend forcibly and me to fall down enough to let gravity take me. I rolled away from his and stood, I patted myself down, and trying to wipe off the dirt I collected. Now that I no longer had his warmth and leaving my blanket behind in a knot between his arms I felt the cold... I was still in my sweats I wore and they weren’t providing much warmth.   
“Guh, did you have to kick so hard?”   
“You weren’t letting go.” Grayson huffed and reached for me again. I backed away and made me for the door. I rather go in like this than with him carrying me. He was on my tail though.so the moment I grabbed the door and opened it I was wrenched away and it slammed shut again. Grayson was lifting me from the waist. Trying to pry me away and into his arms.  
“Grayson! Let me go!” I kicked at him and grabbed the door again. It opened again and this time I could see Batman standing in the far back, his frame outlined by a street light. Very ominous.   
I was kicking Grayson when the door opened all the way, making me knock into Grayson. I young boy stood in the doorway staring at us. I was still clinging to the door while Grayson was holding me by the waist up. The boy sighed and leaned against the frame, crossing his arms and smirking at us. I instinctively wanted to hit it off his face.   
“Are you two done bonding yet? We do have a schedule to keep to.” he said. Something about his voice really made me want to wipe off that smirk with a good whack.   
“Right, Right. Come on Damian. “Grayson put me down on the ground and let me walk, but his hand firmly rested on my shoulder. Lightly leading me into the building.  
The inside was actually rather clean and it was lighted by the outside overheads. I followed the boy in red to the furthest cornered where I saw the imposing figure of Batman earlier. I slowed my pace a bit, but Grayson’s body was there to keep my pace up. In the corner I saw the large and imposing figure of the man that will literally kind of make my future more hectic or peaceful. Shit.  
When I was about a foot an away I stopped and shot a look up to Grayson, telepathically telling him that this was as close as I was going. He nodded and let up on his hold of me. His hand still resting on me though. I watched as the boy in red went to the left of Batman and stood next to the Red hood. Been a while since I thought of him. I remember now, this is red robin. He was with Red hood before, but I forgot about him.   
“Howdy kid, been some time huh?” Hood said in a teasing manner.  
“Tt, obviously not long enough. How did you manage to track me so quickly?”  
“Night wing recognized you from our reports.” Batman filled in.   
“Bullshit. Grayson knows me. You must know me too. I remember you saying about going home in Gotham. “  
“Damian!” Grayson admonished me. I ignored him though. I have a whole year missing and I’m still so broken. They know something.   
“No! I was brought here by you. I should be able to ask some questions!” Grayson looked like he was about to argue with me, but the Red Robin spoke up.  
“Hey calm down. We want answer just as much as you. Let’s start off easy, how long has it been since you’ve been away from the league?”  
“I’ve gone for the better part of a year now. My turn, how long have you guys been following me?” I glared at the red boy and the red hood. I could feel Grayson stiffen behind me. His hand flexing around me shoulders.   
The red Robin looked at Batman and he seemed to take a moment before he answered.  
“We’ve known about you since you were 9.ive kept an eye out for you since I found out you were resurrected.” I shook my head in understanding. So they did know me and they knew I was dead. What else though.  
“Ok, your turn. What else?”  
“Why did you leave?”  
“I had to. I wasn’t cut to be an assassin any more. Let alone be the leader of the league. So I left. Figured I’d wait a few years before I come up and go against grandfather.” Batman’s face remained impassive to my explanation. I shifted a bit, feeling insecure now. Maybe that want a good enough reason to leave. Maybe he was going to turn me over regardless of was Grayson said. There was three of them in here. I’d be able to out run them, but that mean id have to get away from them. That means id have to leave again.   
“Ummm, what are you going to do with me?” he looked down at me again. In the corner I saw red hood step up and shift in his spot. He seemed like he wanted to intervene here. I’m sure everyone in the room could feel my apprehension about the situation.   
“For now, we will be watching. We will be in touch soon. I just wanted to meet you and make it clear that we prefer you out of the league than in it. For now though. We will be taking it slow. No cuffs as long as you don’t make me put you in them.”   
I took in his words and absorbed them. I nodded my head at him and the others. Grayson leaned over me and I looked up at him. He was smiling at me. I knew he was trying to tell me ‘see? Told you he’d wouldn’t turn you in.’ I nodded my head at him.  
“But wait, so you guys definitely knew me. How?” Batman grimaced at and Grayson tighten his hold on me. Red hood and the guy flinched when I asked.  
“We will tell you more later. We don’t have the time now to go into that.”   
“But I need to know.” I demanded.  
“You will. But it be too much too soon. We need to be patient. We need to be level headed about this all” Batman’s voice was becoming hoarse and his hands were balled into fist now. I closed my eyes in distressed. No, I know somethings going on. I need to know.   
A sharp pain started to attack the left side of my head. I clenched my eyes and took a deep breathe. I was tired. I needed this night to be over.   
I shook my head to clear it and looked up to them. “I need to get back then, if you aren’t going to tell me.”  
“Night wing will be taking you back. I’ll be in touch.” I nodded. I wanted to get out of there quickly now. If I wasn’t going to get my answers now. I wanted to go home and sleep. I was getting a headache. I looked up at night wing and waited for him to tell me when to leave. I looked over to Batman next, but he was gone. Rude. Didn’t even say goodbye.  
“Night, little birdy.” Red hood said as he climbed through the warehouses sky light. The boy in red walked with night wing to the door before saying goodbye to us and going behind the building. Soon after I heard the roaring of a bike and him riding off into the night.   
The cold was seeping into my bone quickly. God was done being cold. I use wanted to go back.  
“See? Wasn’t too bad? Right? “Grayson said as he started to push me to a bike hidden under a tarp in n the corner.   
“I suppose not. I thought he would have been more’ ’talkative’.”  
“Hehehe, yeah, he’s like that. But see? He wouldn’t turn you over to your grandfather. He’s a good guy.” Grayson was really trying to get me to like Batman. I hold no real resentment for the man. I just wasn’t sure if he’d be wiling not to turn me in. there was a go chance that I’d get turned in if he was involved. Other than that though, I always liked the stories I would ear about him. How he had fought against gods even though he is just a human. Grandfather never did that.   
“He’s ok, I guess.” Grayson seemed happy with my answer. There was no way I could admit that I actually kind of respect Batman. “What time is it?”   
Grayson glanced down at his wrist and looked up. “Its 4:23. Better hurry right?”  
“Shit, yeah. Jerry is going to wake up soon.” I said as I climbed onto the bike with him. He took off an extra helmet from his side pouch and handed it to me. I tucked my head into it and waited for him to start the bike before I wrapped my arms around his waist. The bike sprang forward and I jerked backwards before pulling myself a close at I could to Grayson to not fall off.   
“So you and jerry close?” Grayson yelled over the motor and wind. I buried my head into his side to keep the wind from hitting me anymore. I debated whether to ignore the question or answer it.   
“We kind of are. We are pretty cool with each other. I guess.” I said to him. The wind muffled my voice though, so wasn’t sure he actually heard me. He took a sharp turn and I was forced to hold on to him tighter. We were back in my neighborhood, and only a few blocks down.  
“Let me out soon. It’s easier if I can sneak in on my own.” I instructed him. Just kept on riding till he got to the edge of my street. I expected him to stop before we reached it, but he kept on going. I saw my house go by us, and began to panic. He was supposed to stop soon, jerry was going to wake up and see that I wasn’t in bed. I needed to hurry.   
“Grayson! Stop!” I yelled at him, but the kept going. We were now around the edge of exiting.   
“Gray-!” I came to an abrupt halt.   
“No names Damian.” I glared up at him and he just smirked down at me.  
“I thought you were going to drop me off before we entered.”  
“Eh, figured you’d like to go for a ride.” It was nice to be on a bike after so much time, but I really needed to get back.  
“You’re lucky I need to be gone like 5 minutes ago.” I hoped off his bike and turned away from him.  
“Goodnight dami!” he called to me in a sing songy voice. I cringed at him and pointed aggressively at the peaking sun.  
“Good morning Night wing.” I said to him, before sprinting off. I had to get back to bed before Jerry woke up and I had 10 minutes to do so. Shit!


	22. ch 18

I was able to scamper through the window as quietly as I could. I army crawled up the stairs to   
Only to have to back track. I could hear jerry getting out of our bunk. It creaked lightly and I went tumbling down the stairs. I landed with a soft oomph at the end. I stood up and started looking around. A possible reason why id be down here. He probably already saw that my bunk was empty.  
Think. Think think.   
Than Bathroom!  
I went to the hallway bathroom and closed the door locking it. I flipped the light on and it dimly illuminated the bathroom. I looked around and caught my reflection in the mirror. I was still pale from being outside and my eyes were circled with a thick black circle from lack of sleep. Shit.i have to hide it. I could hear the light steps of jerry un-doubtable making his way down the stairs, I allowed myself to panic a moment before I instinctively flushed to the toilet.   
A soft tapping at the door came next.  
“Damian?” Jerry’s ushered voice called to me through the door.  
“Uhh, almost done.” A said back to him. I could sense him backing away from the door. I took the moment to run some hot water from the faucet and splash it on my win chilled face. I hoped that it was warmed me up enough to give me some color. I could see reflection and it was not pretty. With a few quick slaps to my cheek and opened the door. Jerry was standing in front of it with a concerned look on his face. A frown etched into his face and his brown eyes doing a quick once over on me.  
“Not feeling well?”  
“Nah, bad stomach. Must be nerves.” Jerry crossed his arms at that and stepped aside for me to walk out.  
“What’s up?” he asked. I looked up to him and I could see the genuine concern in his eyes. I didn’t want to lie to him, but I couldn’t really just say that was meeting Batman and his clan tonight. Or that I was technically kidnapped by night wing tonight.   
“Just getting used to everything I guess, couldn’t sleep.” I supplied.  
“Hmm I see. Want some tea? Might help.”  
“Yeah, I’d like that.” I followed him into the kitchen and watched him go about making me a warm cup of tea. Once the microwave beeped and he pulled out two cups of hot water, I watched him pull out tea’s bags and dip them in. I passed one to me and I took a tentative sip from the cup. It wasn’t the best cup of tea, but it did soothe me to a point. I suppose the lie about me being on edge wasn’t really one. I need some space. I spent a lot of time on my own before I met veronica and Randal, and now that I was constantly surrounded by people, I wasn’t adjusting so well.   
I rubbed my face a bit from exasperation. This was getting too much. I was tired and my whole body felt heavy. I continued to sip my tea while jerry watched me from across the kitchen.   
“So you like school?”  
“It’s ok. I don’t mind it, I guess.” you   
“Hmmm, any trouble?”  
“No, I’m ok. Just tired. “  
“You sure? Not sick are you?”  
“Tt, I don’t get sick.” Which is true. It’s a record for me. Never one sniffle from me.  
“You don’t get sick? I doubt that. Everyone gets sick sometime.”   
“Not me.”  
“Want to make a bet?”   
“What kind of bet?” I was intrigued by this.  
“If you get sick before anyone else in this house, then you have to do one thing I want, with no complaints.”  
“And what would that be?”  
“Can’t say, but you do it?”  
“And if I win?” I didn’t know what I would want from him.  
“Hmmm I don’t know. I can take you to a movie or something.” I got a good idea.  
“Nah, I want you to take me, Randal, Jerold and ash to the park and we play basketball. If I win, then I am the king of the court and you have to let Randal and ash go through your books.”  
“Hehehe, why don’t you just say you wanted to go through them?”  
“Too easy. I want to defeat you completely.”  
“Damian, I used to play basketball for the schools team...”  
“Bet I can still beat you.” I was confident I would be able to beat him regardless.  
“Your funeral.” I said as he finished his cup and rinsing it out in the sink. I smiled into my cup and took a deep drink.   
“Mmm, you should get to bed. Try to sleep some before school at least.”  
“Yeah, I’m pretty tired.” I drank the last of my tea and made a move to stand up. I was about to turn out of the kitchen when I Roxanne rounded the corner.  
“Damian? What you doing up?” oh shit, forgot about her.  
“He couldn’t sleep so he and I were having a cup of tea. He’s going up now.” Jerry covered for me.  
“I see, well Damian, up you go. You have to go to school in 2 hours, try to get some rest.” She used the tip of her fingers and used them to guide me to the stairs case before she ushered me up them.   
I went to the room and saw that everyone was still asleep. I climbed up to my bunk and sinked in to the mattress. I was so tired and granted, just talking to Jerry really did help me relax a bit, but I was still wounded up from meeting batman. He wasn’t bad, or at least he wasn’t confrontational. Which I was grateful for. At the same time though, I knew that he knew something. Or that at least he knew me. I just wasn’t able to remember it. Why though. Grandfather has been brought back through the pits multiple times. Why didn’t he have trouble with remembering things from before?   
My head was hurting again. Everything wasn’t making sense anymore. I just wanted to sleep, but my mind was still going. My memory was obviously altered, batman knew me to some extent, and he also didn’t want to turn me in and was going to give me some space. Grayson was night wing. And I spend good money that the man from the other night was Red Hood. They fit the same and why else would he be at Grayson’s home.   
Why was he there? Maybe they were together. Doesn’t matter. Getting sidetracked.  
I have to think and plan. I need to be ready.  
I want to stay with these people. They are good people. My only friends I’ve made since I was resurrected. But how do I do that? Batman knows who I am, and he didn’t really need to do much to find me. Grandfather would no doubt find me soon. How do I counter act anything he did? Damn it.  
A sharp pain went through my left side of my head.   
Damn it. A headache.   
I flipped over to my other side and laid my head down on my cool pillow. I scrunched my eyes close. I wanted to sleep. I waited for my mind to do the usual float away, but it wouldn’t. I listened to everyone’s slow breathes and I saw from the window the sun rising over the buildings. I heard Randal and ash begin to wake up and get up from their beds. Randal went over to Jerold and shook him up.   
“Mmmm, already? Pfft, fine.” Jerold whined as he got up and went about getting ready.   
“Should we wake Damian up? “Ash asked as he and Randal were going through the closet.  
“Let Veronica do it. He doesn’t wake up when I try to.”   
I sat up at that and they looked up at me.  
“Maybe because your version of waking people up is by telepathically telling them. Sorry Randal, but I’m not susceptible to your thoughts.”   
“Pfft, this is a first. You haven’t woken up first since we came here.” Randal teased.  
“Maybe I sleep so well because I’m above you.” I smiled down at him and he glared up at me.  
“Only up there. Once you come down here, you can’t reach me.”   
“We can test that.” I muttered as I started to climb down. Might as well at this point. I walked pass them and started to look for some clothes that fit me. I found a pair of black pants and a gray t-shirt. They’d do. I threw them onto Jerry’s bunk and started to undress. Behind me I heard Randal and Ash do the same. I was pulling my clothes on when a knock on the door came and I heard Roxanne open it a crack.  
“Ah, good. You three are awake. Let me just get the little ones going. She walked pass me and went to the David and Ben. She rolled them over and told them it was time to get up. They groaned but got up. I was finished getting dressed and went down stairs. I saw Sally and Jen fighting at his kitchen table about something. I sat beside Jen and she said a quick morning at me before going to back to yelling at Sally about how she was being stubborn.   
“You are being so thick headed about it. Why can’t you help me with it?” Jen whined.  
“Because id end up doing most of it, that why.” Sally shot back at her. She was braiding her hair at his table as she was fighting with her.  
“But its just history and you took it already.”  
“Don’t care. Do it yourself.”  
“But I need help.”  
“Find someone else to help you then.” Jen threw herself against her chair before she looked at me.  
“Hey Damian, you are in those smart classes too right? Why not help me out here?” I looked at her and raised an eye brow at her. Across the table Sally gave a short obnoxious laugh before rolling her eyes.   
“What with?”  
“I have to write a paper about world war two.”  
“Doesn’t sound too bad. Why do you need help?” I asked her as I reached for an apple that was in a bowl in the middle of the table.  
“History just isn’t my thing. Its sooooo boring.” She threw herself on me suddenly. “Please help! ~”   
I shifted a bit in my seat and shrugged her off a bit. “I’m not sure how I can help other than just talking to you”  
“That be great! I just need someone there to keep me going. We can do it this weekend!” she was quick to plan.   
“See Sally, Damian is willing to help me. He doesn’t mind not being the only smart one.” Jen poked Sally while she just huffed and threw her hair over her shoulder and began to walk to the kitchen.   
“Ignore her Damian. She’ll get over it. Now hurry up. Roxanne is walking us today. She likes to leave early.” Jen got up and left. I wasn’t particularly hungry, but I finished my apple before standing up. I went to the living room and sat on the couch to wait for everyone. I lulled my head to the side. I now had a low thudding in the back of my head from my headache. I rubbed at my temples to ease it.   
Sigh, I just needed a nights rest and it would be fine. I was going to make it through today and id be fine. I just had to get through the day and I be fine. I could actually think straight then. At that moment Roxanne began to call us to the door to get ready. I heaved myself up and went to the door. Veronica handed me my jacket before helping the little ones with theirs. I threw mine on and slipped on my shoes, before grabbing my back pack. Roxanne ushered us to the door and I stepped out and grabbed David’s hand like usual. We made our way to the school and then went our separate ways. I got to my first class and didn’t bother looking up. I was not up to doing much of anything, so I took my time in doing my work. I was actually going with the class today. When the bell rang I got up and went to my next class. I was on auto drive for the next few hours till free time came. I saw the women from when I took my placement test come in and walk up to me with a smile on her face.  
“Hi Damian, remember me? I just wanted to come and see how you are handling everything.” I looked up at her and she smiled excitedly down at me.  
“I’m good. Most of the things they give me is pretty easy so I’m good.” That seemed to make her really happy as she leaned over my desk. Her manicured fingers displayed over my chemistry book.  
“Well, I have someone who might be able to give you some more advance materials. That way you’re not dealing with something you already know.” I Tt, and raised my brows at her.  
“Like a tutor or something?” I asked.  
“Kind of, he is a volunteer, he’s kind of like you where he was able to score so high. I feel like with his help you can graduate early and be off to college with a scholarship.” I stared at her and her quickly neat down to my level.  
“He can help you get out of this kind of situation. He is a genius and Damian, so are you? You can study and make a good life for yourself. You can work hard and go anywhere if you go to college. Don’t you want a good life?” I looked at her for a moment and debated quietly to just let her take me to wherever.  
“Ok.” I said simply. Her eyes got wide and a smile broke out across her face.  
“Ok? Ok. Great come on!” she stood up quickly and she motioned me to the door. I bent down and grabbed my backpack. Standing up I saw Sally staring at me. I waved at her and she just twitched her nose and looked away from me. Still mad, huh? I followed the women out of the room and down the hall.  
“Ok, so every other day, you will meet with Mr. Drake in room B293 for your sessions.” Drake? That rang a bell from the back of my head. I was about to think further on it, but another wave of pain came and I closed my eyes for a moment. Warding off the wave for the moment. The women didn’t notice as she guided me to the room. She knock on the door and someone called for her to come in. inside was the guy from the other day.   
Tim.   
I stared down at him before she started talking again.   
“Hello Mr. Drake, this is Damian. He’s agreed to study with you!”  
“Good, then we can start. Hey there Damian, my name is Timothy Drake, but you can call me Tim.” I glared at him. This was the same guy from basketball court. Did he know who I was? Or was it some kind of weird coincidence that we just meet there that day?   
Tt, unlikely. He must have been checking me out. Maybe trying to see if I was worth the effort. It would seem I met his expectations.   
“Glad to see you again Tim. I look forward to working with you.” She looked between the two of us confused.  
“You two know each other?” I took a deep breath and let it pass through my nostril airily.  
“Passing a. Now seem more than that.” Tim said off handily at her as he went back to his seat. Picking up books and placing acquaintances hem in whatever order he deemed. I walked over to the table and took the seat that was beside him.  
“I see, well that’s good you two know each other than. I suppose I should get going then. Let you two figure things out. If there’s any issues I’ll be in my office. Uhhh, I’ll get out of you two hair then.” And with that she scurried out of the room.  
It was silent for a reason while I stared at Tim. he continued to go through his books till he stopped, closed his eyes and took a deep breathe.  
“Sigh, probably wondering how this happened, huh?” he asked me before looking up at me. Leaning his head onto his hand. Letting his head rest their lazily as he stared down at me.  
“Figured you had just wanted to meet me before you decided to waste your time.”  
“That’s a harsher way of saying it, but I suppose you could say that. Just wanted to make sure you weren’t going to be too difficult. Last thing I wanted to do was deal with someone who hate my guts for an hour a day.”   
“Heh, I suppose that would be troublesome.”   
He smiled at me for that comment, and shook his head at me before he pulled out an old beaten up math book that was labeled calculus. I was already rather familiar with it.   
“I assume that you know much of what’s inside here, so we will review the last few chapters before we move on, ok? Tomorrow we will do physicist. Then next week we will start English and computers.”  
“That’s all?” I teased him. He gently smacked my shoulder before he opened the book up.  
“All we can do in the time we have.” I rolled my eyes at him and leaned forward as he uncapped a pen and started to go through some problems. We spent the rest of the hour with him talking and would actually ask him some questions when he would touch base on something that alluded to something more advance I wasn’t aware of. He was actually very smart and he was patient with me. When the bell rang I was actually a little disappointed. I sat back in my chair as he started to close his book and put away his paper and pencils.   
“Just do what I gave you and we will continue next week. Good work today.”  
“Yeah, it wasn’t horrible I suppose.” I might have enjoyed it, but I wasn’t going to admit it. He seemed to know though, so he rolled his eyes.   
“Mean that? I’m touched.” He said as he handed me my bad. It was time for me to go to lunch now. I was pretty hungry by now.  
“You should be, this material is much more enthroning than what they give me here. Good choice.”   
Tim paused and looked down at me. He titled his head again and I got the intense feeling that he was trying to analyze me again. There was nothing to really analyze though. I did enjoy being with him.   
“I look forward to our next session. Till then, have a good day.” I said as I walked to the door.  
“Uhh, yeah, hey, maybe we can play basketball again sometime after school.” I looked back at him and saw that he actually seemed sincere. He was rubbing the back of his head and looking at me from the corner of his eye.   
“Sound fun, but we need to team up against Jerry. I have a bet with him and I’m not willing to lose to him, better bring your best game if you plan to be on my team.”   
“Sound like a plan, Damian. See you tomorrow,” I waved at him before I walked out of the room going to lunch, I was dull again and I waited till the bell rang and made my way to Jerold’s and I meeting place. We talked a bit before going our own way, I went to my art room and went up to the teacher.  
“Excuse me, I was wondering when the art show would be. My brother would like to see what I have done, but needs to ask for the time off first.” I explained to her. She smiled at me and told me it would be next Friday night from 6-8.   
“Oh and Damian, if you’d like there is an option to put it up for auction. If you are able to sell it, the money goes to getting more art supplies for the school. “   
“So I wouldn’t be able to take it home?”  
“No, but you can use the new supplies to make new art.” She explained to me. I suppose it didn’t matter. Where would I put it anyway?   
“I suppose that’s not bad. Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” I asked her. I would have preferred her to tell me earlier about this.  
“Well, I thought that out might not want to, considering that it was so good, but your second picture was very good as well. I figured you wouldn’t mind doing so now.”   
“Umm, I guess.” I shrugged at her. I cracked my neck and told her I was going to go sit down and wait for class to start. She said that to make myself comfortable because we would be watching a documentary. Art class went by pretty quietly. I spaced out for most of the movie and was only tuned in when I was ready to leave. When the bell rang I got up and grabbed my bag and went to my class room to grab my coat and made my way to our meeting point. Randal was waiting there for me. When he caught sight of me he jumped up and started to wildly wave at me.  
“Hey Damian. How was today?”  
“It was ok. You seem to be happy about something.”  
“I am. I and Ash are going to try out for the baseball team in the spring. It’s going to be great!”   
“That sounds fun.”  
“Yeah, you should try out when you’re old enough.”  
“Doubt it. I rather just do my thing.”  
“Is that code that you wouldn’t make it?” I threw him a withering look.  
“Please. I whoop you guys without much effort.”  
“Pfft, that’s basketball, this is baseball.”  
“One just gives me a weapon.” Randal barked out a laugh and patted my head.   
“Hey guys, what’s up?” Veronica had come up to us and so had Jerold.  
“Not much, just talking about baseball.”   
“That’s good. You guys ready to head out?”  
“Yeah, just waiting for everyone else.”  
We waited till everyone was there before we started to head back. My back ached for some reason and I was ready for a nap. I figured I could get an hour nap in before I had to go to work. That be a blessing. We made good timing getting back with a lot of chatter between everyone. It seemed like everyone was used to school now and they were making friends. Randal and Ash had made friends with some of the guys on the baseball team. That explains that. Veronica and Jane apparently were having fun with the idea of the up coming play. The school was going to be doing a rendition of wicked. When I asked them what that was, they both giggled and started to tell me about the movie wizard of oz. I never heard of it, and they screamed at the apparent in justice of it all. Ban and David both started to scream about a scarecrow while Isabella started to complain about flying monkeys. I had no clue what was going on, but I just went with it.   
We got to back home and I saw a fancy car parked in front of it. It was an odd sight considering the neighborhood. It was a shade of silver white that I’m sure only those of affluence could afford. I wasn’t the only one who took note. Sally slowed down a bit to take note as well before going to the door and unlocking it. Roxanne was waiting in front of it with her arms crossed. Her posture was stiff and she looked like she was uncomfortable.   
“We have company over, I’m going to have to ask all of you to go up stairs to do your homework for today.” Roxanne left no room for argument. I started to hang up my coat and take off my shoes before going up stairs, but Roxanne stopped me.   
“Damian, I’m going to have to ask you to stay here. I need to speak to you with our guest.” Uh oh.   
“Ummm ok.” I wanted to ask if everything was ok, but decided against it. I didn’t want to start something quite yet. I watched everyone go up the stairs. Randal and Veronica watched me as they walked up reluctantly. I would have to talk to them later. When everyone was up the stairs, Roxanne walked me to the living room where I could see a man sitting on the floral printed couch. He wore a nice suite. Diffidently not someone from this area.  
“Damian, this is Mr. Carver. He says you two know each other.” I looked at the man and I couldn’t place his face. As far as I knew, I never had met him. He wasn’t part of the league. I’m sure I would be able to place his face from that.   
“I’m sorry me, Carver, but I don’t know you.” The man smile gently at me. Or at least what it looked like he was going for. Instincts from another time was ringing in the back of my head. That smile said something else.   
“No, I suppose we had never really met. Well not officially. Damian, I am from Gotham city and our lives crossed when there was an attack in Gotham Park. A building had exploded. Is this ringing any bells?” I remembered that. There was smoke and a lot of screaming everywhere, but what did that have to do with me.  
“Yes, I remember. There was a lot of going on that day.” I stared intently at me now and I felt my muscles tense up. His eyes were predatory.   
“Yes, so much happened that day. You see Damian, I too was there and had managed to get caught in the more dangerous part of the explosion. I was injured. My leg was injured and I couldn’t escape. I was so certain I would have died there, but I was blessed to have a young hero come across Me.” that’s when it clicked. The man in the suite I had dragged out of the smoke. This was him.  
“Oh…yeah. You were that man in the suite.”  
“Yes, that was me. Damian, without you I would have died.”  
Roxanne gasped from behind me. ”Damian! That is so brave of you, you saved this man’s life.” I blushed at her and shrugged it off.  
“It was the right thing to do. There was a lot of injured people there and I couldn’t leave him there.” Roxanne hugged me tightly against her. I could feel her beaming down at me, but I couldn’t look up at her. My face was burning from her stare. The man stood up to take a step towards me. I could finally see the can he was using to walk.   
“Damian, I always pay my debts and I owe you my life. When I lost track of you in the attack I feared that I would never be able to repay you. I set out to find my hero to reward him. Then I found out what was your situation. A child with no home is not acceptable in my book. Especially one that is as courageous as you.” Oh god no.  
“So I set to make sure you do have one. With permission from your guardian I hope to take you back to Gotham and give you the best chance at this life you can have.” The man finished with a beaming smile, but I horrible predatory glint in his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cliff hanger. who is this asshole? well you can find him in the comic. i will explain who he is mostly in the next chapter, but if you read the comics you might be able to get an inkling who he is. jealous bruce coming and also Dick is jealous too, Tim is cool. Jason makes more appearances. miss him.


	23. ch 19

I was sitting at the kitchens table looking over what Drake had given me, but my mind was still on that man. Caver. The man was concerning me more ways than one. I hadn’t ever considered someone wanting to “Adopt” me. I mean technically I am in the system. So I can be adopted, but I didn’t want to. At least not by him. Not by a long shot. The man put this pit in my stomach that not even my grandfather wrath could. The way he looked at me.  
I felt a shiver go up my spine. The look in his eyes said that he had other plans for me. Not the he wanted to give me a “Good” life. Roxanne was almost defensive when he said that he wanted to take me to Gotham. Her grip on me turning almost painful when he reached out to me. I didn’t take it, but he played it off as me being shy. Roxanne said that she would have to speak to me privately about it and that she would be in contact with him. He smiled at her and handed her a card with his information on it. He crouched to my level though and got only a few meters from my face. I scowled at him and gave him my most hateful glare I could while he invaded my personal space. He just smiled at me and said in an endearing voice ‘goodbye Damian, I hope you will accept my offer. Even if you don’t I will be sure to repay you.’ And then he limped out. Roxanne walked him to the door and when I heard her close it I allowed myself a breathe. I walked out of the living room heading to the kitchen when I saw Roxanne still standing in front of the door. Leaning against it with her head tilted back and her eyes closed, her face was scrunched up in something I couldn’t place. Her hands were cupped over her chest, gripping her sweater. When she sensed me she quickly smoothed her face out and smiled at me. She had ushered me to the kitchen with the promise of snacks while I did my homework.   
I stared down at my homework again for a minute before looking to the clock on the wall. I had an hour before I had to leave. I had planned to take a nap, but now I just felt winded. Roxanne did as well. She had called everyone down to do their homework as well, but with snacks. As she moved around us she seemed to be trying to be extra happy, but it never reached her eyes. Her usual brown was now a shade darker and she seemed like she wanted to sit down sometime. Randal had immediately come to sit down next to me and slinging an arm over my shoulder. It felt heavier than usual.  
Jerold had come to sit across from me while Veronica took the seat on the other side of me. She tried to make light conversation with Roxanne, but everything felt like it was just strained. The air itself was thick. I felt like I was suffocating. I looked down at my book one more time before I closed it. I couldn’t focus on it. I was tired, frustrated, confused and over all just pissed off. Why did everything have to hard in life? Why couldn’t I have just one day. One day! One where I wasn’t being hunted down by my grandfather or Batman. Once day where I wasn’t planning something. One day where I could just sit with my friends and just talk to them with no secrets.   
I felt my eyes begin to water in the warning signs of tears. I had never cried this much before. I sniffed with as much dignity I could and stood up. I packed up my book quickly and dumped them by the door.  
“Hey Damian, where you going?” Randal said to me, walking to the front door with me.  
“Think I’m going in early. Might be able to talk to Jerry about my class reading.” Randal bit the side of his cheek roughly at that. There was no real reason to stop me, unless he wanted to open the can of worms we had been tip toeing around for the past hour.  
“Well how about I walk with you? I hitched my coat on, but almost jammed it when he said that.   
I sighed a leaned against the door frame. I just wanted to rest. “Randal, I’m sorry.” That’s all I could say. I was sorry. For a lot of things. I was sorry that I caused all of them such trouble. I was sorry for always having problems. I was sorry I ever met them. I was sorry I was brought back. At this point I was sorry I was ever even planned. I was sorry to the world, but I was truly sorry to those I caused this trouble for.   
“Damian, don’t be. I’m sorry.” What for?   
“I just want to be alone for a bit. I’ll see you tonight. Ok?” Randal smiled down at me before nodding. He watched me leave. I had an hour before I was expected at work, do I could have sometime to get myself together. I was just being emotional. That’s all. The man couldn’t take me if I said no. he was just a minor nuisance that would take care of its self. The problem is though, if this man who knew little about me being able to find me, my grandfather probably already knew where I was. He probably knew I was with these people. How would I protect them from him?   
There was little doubt that he’d show up sooner rather than later, and with him, hell for me and everyone around me will come. I made my way to a bench that was half way between the diner and the house. I sat down and felt the cold metal seep into me through my jeans. I looked down at my lap and started to formulate possible outcomes and what would be the best for everyone.   
If my grandfather were to come tomorrow I wouldn’t be ready. I doubt I could actually fight him off, never mind the army he would bring. The best situation would be if I wasn’t around anymore. Roxanne and everyone would be safe and id be on the move again, but at least they be ok. But I had promised that I’d tell Veronica and everyone that I’d tell them when I was going to be leaving again. I suppose I could write them a letter before I depart this time. I couldn’t tell them the full reason, but I could say my goodbyes. It was the most merciful way to go about it. I would be gone, but they would know it wasn’t their fault. Question is what would happen next. Sneaking away wouldn’t be that hard, but with my tentative truce with the Batman and his clan, I might see about going back to Gotham. I can stay under the radar and Batman can keep an eye on me. So that way I know on the chance that Grandfather did retrieve me.   
Sniff.  
Crying is gross. I felt the hot streams slowly going down my cheeks. I had managed to keep myself quiet through this whole ordeal, but I really needed to sit down and just let it out. I could feel the cold wind hit my jacket. My coat was able to absorb most of the cold, but what got through hit me. It seeped into my bones. I looked around for a clock, but couldn’t find any. I was out here long enough to calm down. I sniffed with as dignity that I was allowed, considering that I had just cried in public. I could feel the tips of my ears burn from my own shame.   
I stood up and flipped my hood up. I had begun to walk to the diner for my shift. Getting myself as calm as I could, so jerry wouldn’t know anything was up. I would have to get in contact with Grayson so he could tell Batman about what I was planning. I would have to prepare.   
I got to the diner and see that I’m actually early. Jerry popped out of the kitchens window when he noticed me.  
“Damian? You’re early!” he seemed like he was happy to see me. His face was stretched out in a happy smile. Something in the back of my head twinge at it. Sending a sharp pain ricketchaing in it. For a moment I could see Jerry’s normally soft brown hair replaced with sleek back. His deep brown eyes a gentle blue. It lingered for a moment before it went back to just him. I blinked whatever fogginess I had in my head.   
“Yeah, I left a bit early.”  
“Hmmm, is that all? Sure you just didn’t miss my face?”  
“Tt. All I have to do is look at toilet if I want to see your face.”  
“Ouch, Dami. That’s some mood.” He joked as I walked into the kitchen. He turned from the window and looked down at me.  
“I’m not in a mood. I’m just being truthful.”  
“That just hurts.” I chuckled at him before grabbing an apron and tying it to myself. I was about to grab my bin before Jerry asked me to come over.  
“Yeah?”  
“When is the Art show?” I had forgot about it.   
“It’s next Friday. At like 6.”   
“Cool. I’ll get the day off and we can all go to the show and see how bad every other kid’s picture looks li akin to something inappropriate.”  
“Making fun of other kid’s pictures? Look forward to it already.” I smirked up at him before going out. I looked over to the Bruce’s booth to see that him and Tim were sitting there, chatting quietly between each other. Bruce had leaned forward to Tim and Tim seemed to be enjoying the attention that he was getting from it. I walked over to the two of them to say a quick hello to them.   
“Hello Damian. How was school?” Bruce asked as he looked up to me. The smile on his face actually very warm and happy. This was the first time I had actually seen him smile without any strain.   
“It was ok. Got a new tutor.” I pointedly looked at Tim who grinned at me. His blue eyes glinting at me.  
“Yes, Tim was just telling me. You guys are working together now. He says your very advanced.” I blushed a bit at what Bruce said. I could say that of course I was more advance than those of my age group, but I held back. Granted I had better education, but they don’t have a pack of killers on their heels, sooooooo. Kind of balanced out. Either way I couldn’t just tell this man and tutor any of that.   
“Yeah, I’m pretty smart. Thanks.”   
“Looking forward to tomorrow? “ Tim asked me. I feel like he asked me this already, but he most likely just wanted to keep talking so Bruce would feel part of the conversation.   
“Actually yes. The time I spent with you was actually more stimulating than when I am in the so called advanced classes.” Tim chuckled at my comment. I said it once, I can say it again. Bruce practically beamed at me.   
“I’m very glad that the two of you are getting along well. Tim is brilliant and practically an expert in everything else.” Now it was Tim’s turn to blush and get bashful at a compliment. It was pretty funny watching him turn pink. His ears now red, he tried to play it off.   
“I bet. He was able to answer anything I asked about within seconds. I can’t wait to see what else he knows. He’s like google. But minus the advertisement.” Tim sputtered and looked up at me. Bruce’s eyes went wide before he started to laugh really loud. A few other patrons looked over at the usually quiet man. His voiced died down a bit and looked over at Tim, who didn’t seem to know what to do. His embarrassment was obvious and I was thriving of it. His posture was now hunched over as he leaned ward Bruce now, while Bruce leaned back. Relaxed for once.   
I felt a stage sense of pride at being able to make the man laugh and to have Tim hunch down from embracement. Bruce’s face which was usually ashen and full of stressed lines, was now relaxed and he seemed more alive rather than a walking corpse. I was happy that I was able to make him smile.  
“I better get to it. I’ll see you later Tim. have a good day Bruce.” I said as I walked away to the other table.  
“Already having a great day.” I overheard Bruce say to Tim as he returned back to his coffee. I smiled a bit, but made sure to wipe it off as I walked back to the kitchen. Jerry was waiting by the window for me. I deposited my bin and went over to him.  
“Dami, who are those people?”  
“The one in red is Tim. he’s my private tutor at school. The man is Bruce. He hangs here a lot and Tim’s usually with him.” Jerry looked down at me for a moment,  
“When did you get a private tutor?” he asked me incredulously.   
“When they found out that I was too smart for what they had.” I said with a sort of swagger that I felt was borrowed. He rolled his eyes at me, before looking out the window back at the two. I tried to look too, but the window was too high up. I had to stand on my toes to peak over a bit, but even that wasn’t enough for me to get a look.   
“Hehehehehehe, Damian. Go grab some flour in the back and help me with prep work for dinner.” I school, and his own day. When it was time to close up, I and jerry walked down the street back home when I could see two figures on the top of the buildings. I had assumed it was Grayson and his friend from the other night. Red hood more than likely. I would have to get in contact with him soon to discuss what had happened and what would be the best response to not get caught, to not also piss off Batman. Tomorrow night I will. It will be Friday and I can sleep in Saturday. We got back to the house and Roxanne was there waiting for us, but I could tell that she was still strung up from earlier. So did Jerry but he didn’t say anything about it. I was happy. I didn’t want to think about that right now. I just wanted to go to sleep and be done with the day.   
When I got to my room I wasn’t shocked to see everyone still up. Randall and Ash were sitting up on Randal’s bed while Jerold had is customary spot on my bunk. I climbed up to it and he moved so I could sit with him.   
No one said anything. I wasn’t even sure what there was to say. Id save it for the weekend. I would try to placate them after I talked to Grayson. Didn’t want to tell them something and not be able to keep to it. Thankfully Jerry came in and made everyone go to bed. Jerold refused though, he said he wanted to make sure I was warm, Jerry rolled his eyes, but didn’t put any effort to make him. I shrugged and just laid down. He did too. There was a bit of maneuvering but we managed to find a comfortable position for the both of us. It wasn’t great, but at least I would be warm and honestly. Grayson wouldn’t be able to kidnap me this way.


	24. ch 20

The clock was moving increasingly slow. The slow ticking was starting to drive me insane. When I had awoken this morning I was dead on my feet. Even with a solid night of res, my body felt like it was starting to fail me. I was nodding off during the lecture and at gym I was tripping everywhere I went. I couldn’t focus on anything for more than 5 minutes at a time. I was done with today already. I was just so tired still.   
When it was time for my meeting with Tim I took my time getting to the small room I was brought too yesterday. As I was walking out of the class room though Sally had looked over to me, this time she didn’t feel like she was angry. If anything, she looked tired too.   
I got to the room and opened the door, not bothering to knock before I went in.  
“You’re late.” Tim said from his seat. He was casually leaning on the table, flipping a pen between his fingers. His tone irked me, I would have made a rude comment, but at this time, I had neither the will nor the reserves to spat one at him. He didn’t seem to mind my silence though. He just opened up the text book and waited for me to sit down. I sighed and did so.  
I listened to Tim droning on and on and found that I was spacing out again. He didn’t seem to notice or at least care. We were going over chemistry and I was ally interested in it, but I just kept floating away. Listening to Tim was actually pretty relaxing. I found his voice lulling and I leaned forward on the table and laid my head on my arms. I looked up to him and he glanced down, but continued his lecture.   
I faded quickly, I dint realize that I was sleeping till I heard the bell ring. I jumped a bit and looked up. I saw Tim now leaning over the table, writing something down. He glanced down at me and smirked.  
“Didn’t think I was that boring. You should get going. You’re going to be late for you next class.” I popped my neck and stretch my arms up. I needed that nap. I felt a bit better, but I was still tired.   
“Sorry about that. Sleep like shit lately.” Tim gave a short muffled laugh before picking up his books and packing them. He handed me a book.  
“It’s cool. I did that a lot when I was in school too. Just take this and review for next week.”   
“Thanks, sorry again.” Tim just waved me off and I left. I went to lunch and sat by myself again. Sally sat with her friends but she kept glancing at me. When I was done I met with Jerold as usual and we chatted, but he was still rather award with me. I suppose I will have to talk to them soon. To put them at ease that we are friends and I will always care for them, the rest of the school day went by fast. I had met everyone in front of the school and we fell into our norm pairs. No one really said much as we got home. We went up the steps and unloaded. I went to our room and collapsed. I would need to track down Grayson soon. If I see him tonight I will go out and track him down. If not then Saturday night I will go out and find him. I laid there for a moment trying to rest my body before work. I was formulating possibilities and outcomes. I needed to get this right.  
I must have nodded off cause when I woke up it was a few hours later and I had to get to work. I stood up and went down stairs. Everyone was in the dining table doing homework or eating. In the living room I heard Randal and Ash talking. I went in and grabbed a clementine from the bowl on the table and went out. I heard Jen wishing a goodbye and a reminder that I had told her I would help her tomorrow with her work. I told her that yeah, I’d be there. Veronica and Randal both yelled a goodbye to me before I walked out. I had about 3o minutes to get to work so I lightly trotted down. As I was walking I felt someone following me. The gaurs on the back of neck was standing up. My pace picked up a bit and so did the presence behind me. I halted and so did the presence. I glanced back a bit and saw hooded figure a few feet away. I stepped forward, but he didn’t. I looked across the street and saw a few cars that were coming up. With little thought to it, I cut across the street. Narrowing missing the oncoming traffic. The figure cusses and dashed across too. I ran down the sidewalk and cut into a parking lot and ducked under a park car. I crawled under the car and waited to see the feet of my cruiser. Soon enough I heard the heavy, rushed, footsteps as it came up to my lines of cars.   
A pair of black sneakers came into my view. They paused for a moment, before going forward. Passing the car I was hiding under. I crawled forward to peak from under the car to see a rather tall man walking away from me. He was walking down the line of cars with his back to me. I didn’t recognize his Back, but I didn’t recognize that jacket. I had thrown it away after all.   
I held in a sigh. I will have to deal with Red Hood now. I was going to be late for work. I crawled back into under the car and scooched out. I squatted down behind it and kept an eye on him. When he turned down a random isle I went into the opposite side of him. Where ever he went, I was only an isle over. Keeping silent and unseen.   
When he final got to a point where there was no way out other than going back the way he’d come I hopped down and blocked his only way out. He didn’t seem at all surprised by me doing this.  
“You know, inside my head, I saw this happening. Guess somethings never change huh?” I looked at home and scowled. I wasn’t up for these word games. I was already late for work, tired and annoyed that I’d have to deal with him following me.   
“What do you want hood?” I asked sharply. He cocked his head to the side and tsked at me.   
“Figured it be too much to hope you didn’t put that together huh?” I crossed my arms and tapped my foot impatiently. “This is a pretty dangerous city and you’re walking around by yourself. Don’t want someone coming up and grabbing you.” I moseyed up to me, but stopped a foot away from him. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and slouched down a bit. I knew he was joking with me, but I could sense the underline concern he had.   
“I’d like to point out the only people who have tried to forcefully take me is you and that cult you call a family.” I spat at him. He didn’t seem at all offended by my jibe though. In fact he seemed like he actually enjoyed it.   
“Hehehe, you get used to it. The costumes and the assholeness is kind of a preference of taste.”   
“Colorful leather tights. Yeah, a preference alright.” He shook his head at me, laughing at my jibes of his family.   
“Hehehehe, you hit the nail with that one. I’m sure you wouldn’t mind the suites so much if you got to do what we do in them.” I rolled my eyes at him.  
“Why are you following me Hood?”   
“Just to make sure nothing happens while the others are away.”  
“Grayson’s gone?” I asked  
“He’s around, just somethings came up so he had to leave for a bit.” I looked up at him.  
“Where’d he go?”  
“Some people for the Teen Titans called him in for some backup. Don’t worry you still got Red and I. and who can or get the Bats himself. Quite a bit of a following you have.”   
“When will he be back?”  
“Wow, way to have favorites. Should be back in a few days or so. Worst case scenario next week.” I groaned. I was hoping to get to him before that. I really just wanted to talk to someone about this stuff. I needed advice.   
“What’s up?” he clapped his hands and I looked up at him. I debated whether to talk to him about it, Hood did work with Grayson, but what if he went straight to batman with it. I just wanted to talk to Grayson about my worries, and get his advice. Grayson was easy to take to. But so was hood. He and I seemed to have this back and forth that made me feel at ease. It just felt like we had this chemistry that let us insult each other, but walk away still being cool. Grayson felt more comfortable. Comfortable in the sense that he wouldn’t judge me for my concerns. Hood felt like he’d try to take is seriously, but he’d brush it off. I didn’t want to be brushed off. I wanted to speak to Grayson.  
“If you could relay to him that I need to speak to him when he gets back, I’d be grateful.”  
“AHhhh, there you go having favorite. Why not just tell me?”  
“Because I’m late for work and this is a conversation I need to have with him.”  
“Pfft excuses. Fine I’ll tell him. Just don’t freak out if you see us following you. Just keeping an eye on the baby brat.” I rolled my eyes at him again.   
“Just stop being a creep and walk beside me. Jeez, less creepy that way.”   
“What if I like shadowing you?” Jason jibed at me. I was already turning away from him when I responded.  
“Then you guys have more issues with boundaries than villains. Man! First Grayson now you! You guys need to be on a watch list!” I yelled as I ran off to the diner. I could hear him hollowing with laughter though. I chuckled too as I ran. I needed to get to work.


	25. ch 20 dick

I kept tapping my foot, trying to keep my nerves from showing too much. I was becoming anxious being away from Bludhaven. Damian was just starting to come around and i could tell that he was starting to like me. He was starting to look for me for support, just like he used to. When Jason had called me to tell me that, Damian had come looking for me i felt a surge of hope and curiosity. What could he want to talk to me about. I could tell that he was still on the fence about Batman, but he would come around once he realized that the guy from the diner was Batman. Bruce had managed to make his presence a norm of Damian. It was a good way for Damian to come around to the idea of Batman being an ally to him, also, it was just a way for Bruce to see his son. Since he started to visit Damian everyday, a sort of life started to come back to him. The way he walked was strong and the way he stood was becoming the imposing figure that you could see before he lost Damian. 

Hell, it wasn't just Bruce that seemed to be coming back alive. Jason seemed to be back to making as many quips as he used to. Granted it never went away completely, but it was much less forced now. It seemed that now that he had someone who could just be as dark as him, he was starting to come out and make jokes with him. 

Tim was on the more quiet side about Damian’s return, but i noticed after the first day of him ‘tutoring’ Damian, he just seemed more weightless. Granted the two of them always fighting before DAmian’s death caused a rift between them, but they were still brothers and Tim felt that he had failed Damian. He carried the weight through Bruces grief and mine and Jason’s distancing, but now that we were coming together, he was adamant about keeping Damian as close as possible. That's why he volunteered to get into the school that Damian was at. 

It was coming together nicely, but we still needed to figure out how to bring him in closer. Just a bit closer and we can go home together, we can take him back to the manor and keep him safe. 

This line of thought kept going through my head since i was called away from Bludhaven by the Titans. Apparently sighting of deathstroke had caused enough of a panic to call me in to find out what he wanted. I was sitting at our control center waiting for Cyborg to come back with the latest news. I was trying to busy myself with looking at what they had on the case so far, but i've glossed over it now 4 times and nothing new was springing at me. It was his usual M.O.. finish the mission and don't get caught. I have to say that chances are, he was long gone, but the titans were still worried and they needed me to say it was ok when everything was said and done. So now i was just playing the waiting game. 

“Hey there nightwing, got that footage ready for you.” Cyborg said as the door opened. He walked in and started to connect himself to the computer that i was attached to myself. 

“Great. Let's see what's going on.” i say as i lean away from the computer to watch it.  
Within a few moments, i was watching a clear version of the video i had watched before. Seeing Deathstroke running across the rooftops in the dark was something i had been expecting. What i was not expecting to see was what he was running towards. Or who.  
Ra’s Al Ghul was waiting for him on the roof tops. When Deathstroke came at a certain distance he sowed and started to walk towards him. I was expecting a fight between them, but instead they came to stand in front of him.they seemed to share some words, and Ra’s handed him a case file. With that Deathstroke disappeared and that was that. I waited for more to happen, but nothing. The footage ended and all that was left was the pit in my stomach. Seeing Ra’s again was not a good sign. It could be for many different reasons, but i have a sneaky feeling that it has something to do with Damian. This was not good. I had to call Bruce immediately. I shot up and ignored Cyborg as he called for me. 

I left the room and started to try and call bruce. It rang for a minute before he picked up.

“Hello?”

“Its me. We have a problem. “

“Whats wrong?”

“Ra’s has come up and he might have contracted Death stroke.” there was a pause on his end. I could feel the rage building up on his end. It was silent and fierce. Mirroring mine. I was ready at this point to hunt down Ra’s and beat this shit out of him, i'm sure Bruce was ready to tear him apart, limb by limb. 

“We need to move soon. Damian seems ready to talk to us. When can you get back to us?”

“I should wrap things up here first, but i will be there in a day.”

“Got it. I will up security around him.”

“Bruce, just make sure Ra’s doesn't grab him.”

“I know dick. I won't let him.”

“Bruce, just remember, anything you can't do, i will.” i said. I hoped he understood what i was saying. I would never fail Damian again. I would do what i had to keep him safe. Even breaking that golden rule. 

“I know Dick, but we won't let it get that far. I won't.” i felt a bit of bite come into my head.

“Bruce, you already have.” i wanted him to understand how far was willing to go. That i wouldn't let his personal choices stop me from protecting my boy.


	26. ch 21

I was late to work and Jerry was standing outside of the diner looking down the sidewalk for me. I was rushing across the street to him when he called for me,  
“DAMIAN! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?” I had to think of a quick excuse cause honestly I didn’t think of anything. Nothing I could come up with was a good enough reason as to why I was late.  
“There was a group of thugs on my way here, so I just detoured across a parking lot. Nothing happened, just being careful.” Lamest and most degrading excuse I ever gave, but it had to work.  
“Shit, well we will have to figure a way to get around that.” I sighed and pushed my head down. running his fingers through my hair before motioning for me to get into the diner. Quickly following me in, I he lead me to the kitchen. As I walked in I saw Tim and Bruce in their booth. Keeping an eye on me and Jerry as we went by them. I walked threw the swinging door and started to go for my aprons when I felt Jerry grab my shoulder. I looked over my shoulder at him and saw that he had a soured look.  
“HEnry Damian. Umm, I wanted to talk to you. I asked Mr, smith if we could get off early. I kinda wanted to talk to you about all that been happening. Feel like it's been awhile since we had a good chat.”  
“Like a check in?”  
“Sort of. I think you need to make a decision. And I want to help you and talk it out. How bout we talk it threw together?” he gave me a impish grin before cocking his head to the side. I rolled my eyes at him and ‘Tt.  
“I already decided.” I said flippantly. Already reaching for my apron, while jerry was stunned for a moment.  
“You did?”  
“Yeah I did.”  
“Can I know?”  
“is it not obvious? I mean, the guy was weird and he hunted me down from Gotham. That is just….gleh.”  
Jerry face fell into one of excitement. His warm brown eyes sparkling and his smile almost as dazzling as the one grayson shot me when i first met him. 

Jerry pulled me in for a hug, pushing my head into his stomach and smothering me that way. I groaned a bit and mocked fought him off. He laughed and allowed me to pull back. I looked up to him and smiled. It felt nice to have someone like him have my back. I would have let the moment continue, but there was work to do and i wanted to try to get home early to see everyone. I was starting to forget what it was like to hang with them, also i felt bad for dozing off on Time, so i should get out there see how’s he doing and do my homework when i get home. 

I sniffed my nose to get his attention, he looked down at me and started to let go, but the dish washers behind us started to make obnoxious cooing noises at us.

“Ahhhh, come on, don't we get a hug?” 

“Come here and cuddle us Jerry.”

“Piss off, you two.” Jerry rolled his eyes at them and turned back to the stove.

The two of them made exaggerated hand movements, “What we aren't cute enough?” jerry was audibly rolling his eyes now.

“Nope, you have to be my level of cuteness to get the Jerry the brute to want to hug you.”   
Jerry swatted at me and i casually danced out the kitchen. The indignant yells of the dishwashers following me out and filling the dining room. Catching the attention of the only two patrons that we had.   
As i came out Tim raised his hand and caught my attention, i went over to him and bruce seemed to lite up. 

“What’s that all about?” Bruce asked me.

“Well, the dishwashers just learned they're not as cute as me. Taking it pretty hard.” Bruce let out a deep chuckle at our antics and went about cleaning the table next to them. 

“Hey Damian, you get anymore sleep?” Tim asked. I huffed at him in embarrassment. I usually don't allow myself such laziness, but i was exhausted from my chaotic week. 

“Yes, i went home and took a nap after school.”

“Good, so you feeling better.”

“Yes, thank you. I am sorry i fell asleep. I don't usually do that, but you know a lot happened so quickly. Guess it caught up to me.” Tim nodded his head in understanding. Bruce seemed to become uncomfortable, starting to shift in his booth.

“You must work very hard to be that tired.” Bruce said as he finally settled. Me and Tim shared a quick glance that i felt was planned, but it was more instinctual to look at him to see what he thought about Bruce’s behaviour. I've seen this guy now almost everyday since i've come to Bludhaven, but he never really seemed this upset. 

“Yeah, well people expect me to do well. And i want to do good, so i have to work hard.” Tim huffed a bit, and i felt the need to punch him in his face to wipe that smirk, but i was at work and Bruce was sitting across from us, so i settled for a swift kick to the shin. 

Tim groaned a bit and held his leg, breathing through his teeth. Bruce raised his brows at us and started to shake his head.

“Some things won't ever change it seems.” Bruce said, i was tempted to ask him what he meant by it. As far as i knew, Tim and i only started to act like this. Eh, maybe tim was a douche to other people. 

“Damian, i'm almost done back here. Start getting ready.” Jerry said as he popped out of the window to see me talking to Tim and Bruce. He shook his head at me, probably still upset that i was talking to people that were ‘strangers’. Maybe i could introduce him to tim as my tutor and well bruce was a stranger. If i it wasn't for Tim, i'd probably just figure he was a weird old guy that was lonely. Which was kinda weird, but not as threatening as it should have been to me. I mean i was technically running away from an old lonely guy, but i called him grandfather and not Bruce. 

“Ok, ill finish out here and we can get going.” i called back to Jerry. He popped back in the window and i turned back to tim and Bruce.

“I'm leaving early today.” 

“Oh? So no late walks home?” Tim said as he leaned back. I was about to answer him, when i something struck me. How did Tim know when i get off? 

The look of confusement showed on my face because Bruce leaned forward and shot him a look of accusation, that Tim quickly caught.

“What?” i asked him.

“What?” He answered back. I think he was trying to play it off. 

“What?” i said again and his face scrunched together and broke out in a smile.

“What?” he said again. I rolled my eyes again. I would deal with this later. I was having a good day and was not in the mood to figure out that my tutor and the weird guy at the diner was really weird.

“Whatever.” i turned away from them and went to the other tables to finish up for the night. Distantly behind me i overheard Tim whisper told ya i could side track him to next week in hell. I seethed at the idea of being manipulated,but ignored it to focus on my work. 

Within a few minutes i was done and going back into the kitchen.

“Hey Jerry, done out there.” i spun around and saw that he was taking off his apron.

“Cools, well let's get going before the boss changes his mind.” 

I left my apron there and followed him out of the kitchen to the closet where we kept our coats. Tim and Bruce were still there, watching us. Tim’s comment was still nagging me and i wanted to ignore him, but the bastard had to stand up and wave goodbye to me.

“Bye Dami! I'll see you monday!” i turned to him and said a quiet see ya, but Jerry seemed curious. 

“Your Damian’s tutor at school right?” he asked. Tim seemed to glow at the the words.

“Yup, me and this little guy here spend time everyday going over everything from math to history.” 

“That’s really cool, but i have to ask. Why?”

“Cause he wouldn't get what he needed to succeed if he stayed in their version of advance.” 

“No, no i get that. What i meant was why you? You are just about my age, and i'm just curious if you have some kind of teaching degree.” JErry did have a point. Why was he teaching me? I mean yeah, he was a genius, but does that mean he’s qualified? 

“Well, you see, i'm kind of really smart.” 

“Yes, i'm sure, but why are you allowed near children. Surely more than that your smart.” Tim seemed to panic a bit.

“Well, i am the heir to a multi billion corporation. So i'm pretty good.” Jerry stiffened at Tim’s lame reasoning.

“So is Donald Trump and his kids and i wouldn't trust any of them near Damian.” shit. 

“Shit.” Tim squeezed out, a bit disturbed to be compared to him.  
“Well, i wanted to do volunteer hours to help, you know give back. I was adopted, and well i wanted to give others the option to get better. I was lucky that i was naturally smart, but i had to work endlessly. So i just wanted to help others get better.” there you go Tim. thats better. 

“Well that’s very nice of you mr. Drake. Im sure your father over there is very proud of you.” Wait, What?

“Uhh, yeah. Bruce is really happy that i'm helping Damian.”

“Yes, well, me and Damian will be seeing you two.” Jerry said as he grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me away from the closet and out the front door. Leaving a baffled Bruce and Tim in his wake.   
“What was that?” i asked Jerry. How did he know that i never thought of it.

“I was curious about our new regular. He only showed up when you did. And then that cop started to come by more often and then this Timothy Drake character was always around you. I wanted to know what was up.” 

“So what is up?” i asked, intrigued more than anything. A bit impressed that Jerry was able to catch on to Grayson always being near me, but now that he said it, Bruce seemed to be near alot too.

“The old guy, that's Bruce wayne, he’s a big shot from Gotham. Like the prince of the place. He adopted dick Grayson which is that cop, then a kid named Jason todd, but he seems to keep a really low profile, word is that he faked his death as a kid to get away from all the high society stuff. Then there’s Timothy Drake. Was a rich kid before, but his parents died and was also adopted by Wayne.” 

“Ok, so what does it mean?”

“One, Wayne seems to like collecting kids that look like him. Two, he has a lot of those, three, he’s here i think to check you out.”

“Why would he do that?”

“Well kiddo, you are pretty amazing.” he said as he squeezed me to him. I grumbled again and shrugged him off.

“Also, you do look like him. Like a lot. Kindof weird to be honest.” he said as he tried to shrug past that thought. “Best not to think about it too much.” 

“So you think he is trying to see if i'd look good as another of his collection.” 

“Exactly, i mean he has to have some kind of cult going on.” he half joked.

“Well i suppose i should keep my distance.” i joked back, but i too was only half joking. I never really gave too much thought to the man, and Tim was a suspicious character, but compared to everything else. It seemed to trivial. 

“Just stay close to us. Going to see if we can change the schedule so you won't have to walk alone. Maybe that way we don't have to worry about thugs and the apparent demand for Damian’s there is in this world.” 

“Well, i'm just that great where people need my brand of awesome.” 

“You little shit.” i hooked my neck between his arm and brought his knuckles down on my head, rubbing aggressively. I let him do it, but as he did it, i felt a sense of peace and longing. I have done this before. Not with Jerry though, but someone who was like him. Someone who loved me just as much as i felt loved by Jerry. It was comforting, but also heartbreaking. I wanted to know who this person was, but i couldn't grasp it, so instead i grasped Jerry. I grabbed the arm that was around me neck and held it there. Never mind the awkward position i was in. i wanted this feeling to stay for a bit more.

Jerry let me hold on for a while, before hanging himself so he could just hold me close to him instead. We walked back like that.

When we go into the house, everyone was doing there own thing. I could hear Veronica and Jane in their room listening to music and talking. Ronald, Ash, and Jerold were in the living room watching tv while the little ones were drawing at the table with a silent Sally doing her homework. I pulled off my coat and handed it to Jerry to put up, i walked into the living room and the three of them looked up at me. 

“Damian? What are you doing here?”

“We left early. Needed to talk to Roxanne, about things.” 

“Oh.” Jerold said, his voice low.

“I'm not going with him. The guy is a creep.” the three of them looked at me and they jumped up and tackled me. 

“So, we aren't losing you to some guy.”

“Umm, no. i really don't know him and he’s kinda creepy so no.” 

“That’s great! You can stay with us!” Jerold said as he backed up off me. Our little pow wow got the attention of everyone in the kitchen and dining room. They came out to see what what causing the noise. The little ones saw that i was at the bottom of the dog pile and came and jumped onto Randall and brought him down with them, landing on me. I groaned out a breath and tried to breathe through my nose. Jerry came in and saw that i was suffocating and instead of helping me, he too laid down on the pile. Though lighter than the others. Ash and Jerold both yelled out in protest and whined about dieing. I tried to crawl out but jerry dragged me back under.   
Veronica and Jane came down to see what was going on. I looked up to them and mouthed ‘help me’. They bent down and grabbed me. They did a mock pull, but quickly gave up. 

“Uhhhhgg, guys, i can't breathe.” i finally whined out. I had 7 bodies on me. I couldn't handle it. 

They all started to move off me. Jerry picking up the children off of me and then the boys crawling off. I sat up and Randal grabbed me up and held me off my feet. 

“Why?” i asked. I was done already.

“You are just so tiny.”he gushed.

“I will delete you from this world, Randal if you do now put me down.” 

“Man, someone is grumpy.” Veronica came up behind us and made Randal put me down. 

“I'm just squished.” 

“Someone squished all the good will out of you.”Ash said as he sat back.

“Yeah, it was Jerry, he weight was the breaking point.”

Jerry swatted at me, but i ducked and let his hand hit Randall that was still standing close to me. Randal cried out and Roxanne came running out.

“Whats’ going on?” she asked as she crossed her arms.

“Don't worry Roxanne, we are just playing. Is dinner almost ready?” Jerry changed the subject.

“Yes, just in time, about to set the table.” she uncrossed her arms but she still seemed a bit annoyed at our antics.

“Cool, come on Damian, let's go help Roxanne.” i followed him into the kitchen and was going for the plates. 

“So Roxanne, me and Damian talked and i think we are going need to tell Mr. Carver, that Damian isn't interested.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, i never wanted to go with him. It's just kinda creepy.” i said. She smiled and went to help me grab the plates.

“Ok, i will call him and thank him for the offer, but you are not interested.” 

“Thanks Roxanne.” she smiled at me and Jerry pushed my head to the side. I smiled at him and helped set the table for dinner, we all came together and ate dinner.   
Randal and Ash started fighting again about superheros, Roxanne made the call and i could over hear her fighting with carver, she hung up on him and sat down with us. No else gave much thought about it. When we were done, Jane dragged me upstairs with Veronica and they made me listen to music with them in their room. The room was identical to ours, but obviously, jane had made a little corner for just herself. It was cluttered and filled with cd’s. She sat me down and i was forced to listen to a list of cd’s that jane said were a must to understand culture. Veronica was behind her and telling me her favorites. I sat on one of the beds and listened to them all, some time in the night the others came in to listen too. Jerry came by and passed me a book that said ‘Dune’. I sat back and started to read it with him reading over my shoulders. It was nice, all of us standing around. We spent the rest of night like that.

The next day, we all woke up rather late and i got started on doing my homework for tim. I would have to tell him that it was weird that he seemed to be doing recon for Mr. Wayne. I would have to tell him to back off for now. Then i would have to get in touch with Grayson. Tell him what he missed while on his vacation. 

I helped Jane with her project like i promised and it was pretty easy. I just told her the stories my mother would tell me as a child and she took off on it. She would starting writing her paper and then come find me when she got stuck. When it was time for me to go to work she was about done with it. I was sort of proud of her. She just needed a push to get started. 

I got to work and did my usual job. Tim and bruce were there, but i didn't bother going up to them this time. I was still a bit weirded out by the information. Figured i'd just talk to tim about it later. 

I finished my shift with Jerry and we started to walk home, the same as always. I kept my eyes up on the roofs this time to see if i could catch a glimpse of nightwing or his friend, but didn't see anything.

“Relax Damian. Im sure they are around.” Jerry said as he pulled me to him. 

“Figured that much. I'm ok.”

We walked home silently after that. We were almost back when i saw that behind us a black van with its high beams were on. It came closer to us and JErry started to push me further to the alley way. I half expected it to keep going, and it did. But hands from the alleyway reached out and yanked me out of Jerry’s grasp.

“Jerry!” i yelled as i kicked at one of my captors. They wore all black that reminded me of the ninjas my grandfather employed. I kicked harder at them, but they held on tighter. Jerry ran at them and punched one of them as hard as he could. The man staggered back, but quickly stood back up and pulled out a small dagger and swiped it at Jerry. Jerry jumped back to dodge it and went to grab the knife. He grabbed the assailant's arm and twisted it. The dagger was dropped and the guys arm that was now twisted at an odd angle didn't even flinch. He went at Jerry again, this time with one hand. JErry backed up a bit and looked over at me. I  
I was still struggling with the two that were holding me. One of them lifted me off the ground and the other grabbed my legs. I tried to kick out of it, but their grip was inhumane. It was like being bound by chains. 

Jerry was still trying to get his assailant to back off as he ran to me. The van was now parked, with its side door wide open and a dark abyss waiting for me. I doubled my struggle. 

“LET HIM GO!” Jerry screamed at the two as he tackled the one holding my legs. They crashed and i saw the one with the busted arm still running at him. I lifted my hips up and effectively kick the one holding my arms in the face. Disorienting him enough to get him to drop me for a second. I rolled out of the way and went to grab a loose piece of wood that was hanging off the side of a boarded up window. I ripped it off and ran at the two that were holding jerry down. I brought it down on the head of one of them. It was enough for jerry to sit up and pry off the one holding his other arm. I stood up quickly to see that the others were standing again. I stood to them and raised my weapon. I was about to take a swing at them when a blinding pain rang through my head. 

I was struck in the back of my head and now i was lying on the ground. I wasn't sure what happened next, but i heard Jerry screaming for me to get back up and for them to let me go. Then nothing. I was lain on the ground again, but this time someone was holding me. They were checking my head, shining a bright light in my eyes. They were calling for me to say something. 

Everything was getting fuzzy and i was going in and out. In the background i could hear tires screeching and loud voices arguing. I tried to open my eyes, but the only thing that came clearly was the color red and the engraved double ‘R’ on someone's chest.


	27. ch 22

Did i ever say how much i hate the cold, and granted where ever i was definatly wasnt as cold as being on the streets of gotham was, but it was still chilly enough to get me to shiver. there was a soft breeze every now and than to tell me that there was a draft in the place i was being kept. it was a bit cold, and the fact that i seemed to be lying down on a metal table wasn't helping.

i tried to crack my eyes open, but a blinding light was shining above me and i was forced to close them immediately. the back of my head was aching. causing me to have erratic thought patterns. i would start a thought and not be able to finish it. or another thought that was half finish would take place of the end of my focused line of ... my head hurts. 

i had to get up and see what was going on. that the bottom line. i needed to get up and see if i was captured. i probably was. what i could gather was that if i wasn't, Jerry would have taken me to a hospital, and i was most definitely not in a hospital. i wish i was. it would be easier to sneak away if i was. 

i cracked my right eye open a bit, and was immediately tempted to shut it again, but i forced it to stay open in favor of gathering more information. 

when the light finally didn't burn as much i saw that i was looking up and a cemented ceiling. damn. it looks too familiar. too much like the cells at grandfathers castle in the mountains. just looking at it, was too much of a memory to bring up at the moment. i felt sick. i turned my head sharply to the side and immediately regretted it. i heard a harsh rip from the back of my head and the tell tail sign that i was leaking blood again. the war drops falling down my neck. 

"Hey, hey, hey. take it easy there." a familiar voice said beside me. i looked up and saw that jerry was standing beside me. leaning over me and shadowing me from the hard light.

"Took a harsh blow there, buddy. need to watch your head for a while." he said as shifted my head back forward, towards the ceiling to take a better look at my now ripped stitched.

I tried to open my mouth, but my jaw was stiff, feeling like it was cemented shut. I groaned internally, there was so many things I needed to know. What happened after I was knocked out? Where were we? Was he ok? Was I ok? What happened to those guys that attacked us? Instead, I settled for looking at him with pleading eyes. I really needed to know what was happening.  
“Hey, don’t worry. You aren't in any danger. We are ok.” I was grateful for that, his soothing words enough to placate my nerves, but I still needed to know what was going on.  
“Do you remember how we got jumped?” I tried to nod but I could still feel the small trickles of blood flowing down my neck. Warning me against it.  
“Well, get this, batman and these two other guys came out of nowhere and chased them off of you.” He said in a hush version of awe, but his eyes were anything other than awe. They were wide and frightened. Probably still replaying the moments over in his head on a constant repeat, it was more for my own benefit that he was trying to play up the story. Figuring that I was scared at the prospect that I was about to be taken. Which he wasn’t wrong, that one moment when I could only see the still blackness of the interior of the van filled me with a horror I hadn’t felt since I had awoken in my grandfather’s care.   
“ it was pretty amazing. The guy in the Red Hood shot like 3 of them, but they just kept on coming at him. Not even bullets were taking them down, so get this, he kicks them. That’s it, just kicks them into the van, while batman takes the one holding you down and body slams him into the hood of the van.” He explained. His voice rising in his hushed whisper, trying to play up the story, although that might have been because he was realizing that what we were fighting might have not been normal warriors. So that begs the question, what were they?  
Jerry leaned over more and started to run a gentle hand through my hair. Granted it was matted to all hell and more than likely was so due to the blood that coated it red. I could see it, but I could feel the my hair sticking to my forehead.  
“Wait here, I need to go get them and that medic to come back and patch up that cut, ok?” even if I didn’t want him to leave me, I couldn’t voice it. Besides, it was for the best. I need someone to come do the stitches on the back of my head. He leaned out of my view, the sound of his foot steps resounding as he left. I was tempted to sit up again, but the constant sting was a reminder that moving was a bad option. Besides, there was no real point in getting up yet. Batman was aware of my situation already. Granted I would more comfortable to have Grayson beside me when I saw him again, but I was becoming too dependent on him for these things. I need to start doing things without him soon.  
A moment passed before I heard the door open again and Jerry’s voice echoing in what I assumed was a hallway. It was echoey and hard to distinguish, but his voice was higher and more distressed than when he was talking to me. I wasn’t sure what he was upset about, but i'm sure batman was making him aware of the situation I was in and he wasn’t taking it so well. Welp, i'd need to come clean eventually, I guess. Granted, I would have rather not done it in a way the almost got him killed.  
I sighed and raised my arm above my eyes. Trying shielding myself from the light, once again. I heard footsteps come towards me and was tempted to ignore them, but thought better of it. This was one of Batman’s men. I should try to be respectful to them. 

He grabbed my forearm in a gentle grip, his latexted hand seeping with warmth, and removed it from my head. I let him do it, and it was only then that I saw that it was the elderly man from before. Back when I first had my run in with Batman, a man had come down to stop me, and I was already panicking and to be honest, I was still sore about being chased down and drugged like I was one of his criminals with information. I had stunned the man by hitting the never in his neck. I felt bad about it then, but I felt it was my best course of action. I felt that I needed to get away before something out of my control happened. Like him finding me, which he did. Not even a week later.  
I could smash my head against the table for all of this coming back to bite me in the ass, but decided against it.  
Looking up at the man, he seemed like he was more preoccupied with my injury rather than being upset with me.  
“Uhhhh.” I said, wasn’t sure what to say to him.  
“I'm going to have to stitch these up again. This time please try not to rip apart my work.” He bit at me. I looked away in shame. This man managed to make me feel like the biggest shit faster than my grandfather with just a few words and his mere presence.  
“I'm sorry.” I said. Though I felt that I should have said i'm sorry for far more. The man sighed down at me. Turning me over to get a look at the back of my head. His hands were gentle still. Something I wasn’t used to from my medics at the league. It was nice to have someone take their time on my injury rather than rush through it to get away from Ra’s Al ghul heir.  
“I shouldn’t be surprised with you. Boys are always so quick to try and move. As if they are invincible. Like a simple wound wouldn’t stop them, but then that is why they are boys, right?” I listened to him as he talked. It seemed he was monologuing his own thoughts, but they were nice to listen to.  
“The master of the house is the same, and so are all of you. Rushing to take on the world. The bad thing is, you actually do.” He laughed a bit. I rolled my eyes a bit at the lame joke.  
“nevertheless, try not to rip them out again.” He moved me around a bit more again, to clean my neck next.  
“Ill try not to. But ummm, more sorry for the first thing I did. The stitches were an honest mistake. I didn’t think that I even had them. You know knee jerk reaction when you might have been kidnapped.” He paused again and started wipe again.

“The first thing you did?” he asked. His confusion now evident at my words. Maybe I got the wrong person. Surely anyone that was temporally paralyzed would be a bit soar to the person that did it.  
“You know, when we first met?” he paused again, but stood up straight fast.  
“Wait you remember?” a new voice said behind me. I shifted a bit and caught red robin standing not to far away from the man.  
“Uhh yeah?” I said as the man put his hand on my shoulder so he could finish his work.  
“So how much do you remember?” he asked me. His voice getting excited.  
“I remember the explosion and the fact that you and the red hood chased me around for a while before i'm pretty sure Batman knocked my ass out.” The man lightly hit me on the bottom for my langue.  
“Oh. That’s what you meant.” Robin’s voice dropped and I could sense the sadness waving off him. Even the man seemed like he was saddened by my response. I want to turn to look at them to see what was going on, but the man kept a firm hand on me now.

“Yeah, anyway, i'm sorry to him for well kind of being unnecessary violent and well knocking him out. Not sorry to you though.” I pointed at the man while I made a circling gesture to where I assume red robin was.

“you suck. We could have gotten hurt?” I ‘tt’ at him, mocking him.

“You should be used to that if he you are in that line of work.” 

“He’s got you there birdy.”

“Red Hood?” i asked. What was he doing here.

“Yeah, kid?” 

“Where’s Grayson?”

“He’s on his way.” i sighed a bit, and the man continued to do his work. He finished quickly and turned me back over, so i could lay down on my back, but this time he put a towel under my head. 

“All done master Damian. Please do try to keep your promise.” he said as he patted my head. I smiled guiltily and watched him leave. Red robin came up beside me and smiled. Something about him seemed really familiar. Then hood came up beside him. Something was nagging at the back of my head about the two of them. Something familiar. 

“Yeah, sorry bout that. Umm is Jerry around and probably should say hi to batman right?” 

“Don't worry about Mister Jerald. He is currently speaking with Batman about returning home.” 

“Oh, so we will be going back soon?” they all looked at each other. 

“That's something we will need to talk about. You see Damian, things are just going to get more complicated.” 

“Is it because my grandfather sent those people to attack us?” i knew that it would happen, but i didn't know what i wanted to do. I wanted to stay just a bit more.   
“That's something we are going to need to talk about, but those assailants weren't from the league Damian.” Red Robin said as he came beside my bed.

“What? Who were they then?”

“They are from a old organization based in Gotham. Called the court of owls.” A deep voice said from the doorway. I looked over and saw that Batman and Jerry were in the room now. Batman’s oppressive presence starting to seep into the room. Calling attention to all those that were in it, while jerry was standing a bit behind him, trying to stand at the side. It looked like he was about to come to me, but held himself back. 

“Why’d they attack us? I haven't done anything to them?” 

“You gained their interest during your stay at Gotham. Any idea on how?”   
I paused for a moment and tried to think what i did. I kept myself really on the down low. The only thing i did when i was there were during those last few days when i ran into the Bat’s family.

“Damian, Carver.” Jerry spoke up.he stepped around batman and tried to take a step towards me, but Batman stared him down.

“Carver? How do you know him?” the question was directed to me, but JErry answered.

“Creep came out of nowhere and said he wanted to adopt Damian, because he saved him during a terrorist attack.” Batman’s gazed shifted over to me, and i felt the hairs on my neck rise. The fury that was radiating off of him could be cut. 

“What else?” He grounded out. His voice still deep, but as a growl that had the Red shift a bit. Jerry turned fully to Batman, obstructing my full view of the man.

“We told him to bug off. That he wasn't interested. And that was that.” Jerry crossed his arms. His body rigid. 

Batman made a deep, awful sound in the back of his throat and i found myself trying to sit up. I needed to be ready for anything, although i feel that the Red’s wouldn't let anything happen. I still felt that i should be standing. 

Unfortunately, the man that had just finished stitching me again, did not. 

“Master Damian, you must remain lying down. You will open your wounds again.” 

That broke Batman’s concentrations. He looked back at me, but JErry was blocking him. His face was already in a frown, but it lightened to a grimace. Batman stepped around Jerry, or at least tried to. Jerry followed his every move. 

“Did you forget what we talked about?”

“Yeah, and i still say, fuck you.” Damn, what happened?

“We will drop you off at your home, but Damian must remain in our custody.”

“Yeah, still fuck you. Not happening.” 

“Listen here, you didn't save him. We did. You failed protecting him.” BAtman bit out. JErry’s posture hunched over, his fist clenched in anger, or at least that is what i assumed. I wanted to speak out and say it wasn't Jerry’s responsibility to keep me safe, but a look from the man had me quieted.

“I wouldn't have to if you had done a better job of watching him. You think i haven't noticed you guys following us around at night? Or how there is always this one new guy at the dinner. Or that boy? Youve been watching him this whole time, new everything, but couldn't stop this?” Everyone in the room stiffened at where he was going. 

“What right do you have to say that you could do a better job? I was always with him. How long did it take for you guys to jump in, huh? Enough time for him to be injured that badly! Are you really that sure you are better than me!?” Batman took a step towards Jerry, it felt threatening.

“And what are you going to do to him when you have him? Turn him into another one of your collection of Robins? Another child soldier? How i see it, you're no better than i are, Mr. Wayne.” that was nail in the coffin. Batman had him on the ground faster than i could say a resounding “NO!” Batman was starting to beat him. The reds ran forward and started to pry him off of Jerry, but all i could see was the blood that was now spilling from Jerry’s face. 

I sprang up and not even the stern grip from the man could stop me. I fell off the table and my body screamed at me to stop, but i needed to get to jerry. The Red’s got Batman off of him, but Jerry wasn't moving. I stood up and forced my body to get to him. The red’s threw Batman down and held him there. Batman was yelling at them to stand down, that he was alight again, but they refused to let him up, which i was grateful. 

I collapsed beside Jerry’s body. His face was cut and bruised. There was blood coming out of his nose and mouth. His face was so bloody that i wasn't able to tell if he was conscious or not. I raised my hands to do something, anything, but i couldn't even think of what to do. How to help him.

“Alfred!” someone yelled and soon enough the man was beside me with bandages. He was cleaning up his face.

“What is going on!?” a new voice yelled from the door. I looked up and saw that Grayson was in the room now. His face taking in the chaos of the room. I looked behind me and saw that the Red’s had batman still pinned. BAtman wasn't fighting them, but he seemed to be finally calming down. The Red’s were staring at me and Grayson. Grayson looked down at me and saw that i was leaning over Jerry, who was being attended to by the man. 

“Oh my god.” he breathed out as he he closed his eyes. 

“Grayson. please. “ i pleaded, for what i don't know. I just wanted things to end. Grayson looked at jerry and went to a cabinet and grabbed my bandages. He ran over to us and started to help the man with patching Jerry up. 

“We need to get him to the gurney so i can stitch him up.” the man said. Grayson nodded and went to lift him up. Grayson swung Jerry’s arm around his shoulder and hefted him up. I tried to stand as well, but my body still refused to respond to me. Screaming at me to halt. 

They managed to get him to the gurney and the man went back to stitching Jerry up, while Grayson took a step back. He turned to me and saw that i was still on the floor. He looked at the three that were behind me and motioned for them to stay there. Grayson came to me and kneeled down to my level. 

“Damian, i'm going to take you up from here. Alfred needs to work on Jerry and The three of them are going to have to work out somethings. We need to get you somewhere else for a while.” His explanation made sense, but i didn't want to take the chance of letting batman any where near Jerry, but my head was swimming and i was so tired. I couldn't fight off the wave of exhaustion, and if i couldn't fight that off, fighting off Grayson from scooping me up and carrying me out of the room. 

I watched Batman as we left. The red’s were letting him up and i wanted to say not to, but Batman seemed to be regretful. He looked at me as Grayson carried me out, and then looked at Jerry. 

When Grayson got us into an elevator that took us up to his old apartment that i had visited. He carried me back to his room and placed me on the bed. Once he put me down he flipped on the light and took my head into his hands and gently rolled my head forward and backwards. Looking at the stitches. They had not broken, but my head still hurt like all hell. 

I watched his face as he checked my head. When he deemed that i hadn't managed to injure myself he leaned forward and shook head.

“Damian, what happened?”

“Jerry found out.” i felt that wasn't what he meant though.

“Found out what?” He leaned back to look at me.

“Everything.” my voice broke. I wanted to cry from the frustration. I didn't want him to know how fucked up i was.

“Oh Damian, don't worry.” he soothed me.

“How can i not?”

“ well, Jerry obviously has your back.”

“Didn't stop him from getting his ass kicked by the other guy that was supposed to.” 

“Batman, had a break down i think. That's not how he is.” 

“Are you sure about that? Cause it seemed that Red was used to have to take him down.”

“Kinda the Robin’s job. To keep Batman from losing it.”

“Well they suck at it.” Grayson gave a pitiful laugh.’

“Give them some credit, it's a hard job.” i tried to smile, but i felt so drained. His bed was soft and his comforter felt nice. It smelt of him and it made me realize how much i actually missed having him around. I felt so much more safe with him. I knew that he'd have my back against Batman. Although now, i know for sure that the Red’s would too. 

“Come on, you should try to rest a bit. We will need to figure out what to do tomorrow.” he put a hand on my back and laid me down. I let him guide me down and let him tuck me in. he too laid down beside me and put a arm around me. Holding me close to him, waiting for me to finally submit to the weariness that was over taking me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> do you guys even like oc's? if you do, which is your favorite?


	28. 27

The heat was on and there was something inside the vent, making it rattle. This was not Roxanne’s. I was lying on my back and my eyes were barely opened. My head was still throbbing and my back felt like it runned over by a steamroller. My whole body felt like it was beaten. I shifted my body a bit and something behind me shifted as well, to curve their body to mine to make sure that I was still in closed in some sort of cocoon that made me comfortable.

I moved a bit again and the followed. It was probably Grayson that was still in bed with me. As my mind started to wake up more, my memory after the last night started to resurface. The attack from court, Batman saving us, and then batman beating jerry. Not a good night.

I sighed and turned towards the source of warmth beside me. Nuzzling the last of my sleep away.

“Good morning there buddy. Well actually, good afternoon.” dick said as he tightened his grip on me, bringing me even more closely to him than before. The hug was nice though.

“Did anything happen?” I asked.

“Nothing really happened, since you fell asleep. Batman is gone for now, but the Reds are still here. So is Alfred.”

“Is jerry ok?” I asked. I felt relief to hear that Batman had left, but Jerry was still hurt.

“Yeah, don’t worry. He’s in good hands. Hasn’t woken up yet, but that has more to do with the drugs rather than the injury.” so Jerry was ok, just resting. I sighed and rolled away from Grayson. Letting the colder air from the other side cool my face. We were silent for a while for a minute, not wanting to face the world or my problems.

“Oh, shit!” I recalled Roxanne. Grayson sat up, his arms securing me from making a dash for out of the bed.

“What’s wrong?” Grayson asked me. His eyes now wide and panicked.

“Roxanne! We never made it home last night, she must be worried!” I cried out. Grayson’s eyes went even wider, but after a moment they softened. His blue eyes shining with something. Grayson’s leaned back down, holding me securely the whole time. He laid his head against mine, nuzzling his nose into my hair.

“Don’t worry, we sent a message out to her last night. She knows you are alive.”

“Oh, was she ok?” I asked relieved.

“Humph, she is fine. Mad to all hell and back, but she’s ok.”

“Oh, well won’t stop Veronica from beating me.” I joked lamely. He laughed anyway. I let him hold me for a bit more before sitting up and shaking him off me. I made a move to get up when he spoke up.

“What’s up, Dami?”

“I want to see Jerry. I need to figure out what to do now. I mean I can’t put my friends at risk, but I can’t outrun the owls and my grandfather. I just want to talk to Jerry. Or at least see him.”

Grayson nodded in understanding, but he looked lost again.  
“Well let's get some food first.”

“I’m not really hungry.”

“You may not be hungry, but you still need to eat. You’re hurt too. You need to eat. Come on, Alfred probably made something already.” I let him drag me out of the room and down the hall to the kitchen where the elderly man was sitting at the counter, sipping some tea.

“Hey Alfred, any left over’s?”

“Yes, master Richard. There are some eggs and some oatmeal on the stove. Help yourself.” Grayson walked over to the Stover started to shove eggs onto a plate, while I went to sit across from Alfred. I climbed up the stool and leaned on the counter trying to not look at him. Alfred just raised an eyebrow and placed his cup down on the plate.

“Master Damian, would you like some tea?”  
“Uhhh, yeah, yes. I like tea.” I said. I could smell his and it smelled pretty good. Alfred smiled and stood up and retrieved another cup and came to stand by me. I looked up and watched him as he expertly poured the tea into a porcelain cup. I put the steaming cup in front of me and went back to his seat. I looked down to the cup and took a sip. It had to be the best cup of tea I ever had, there was something familiar about it. It tasted like it was a common flavor.

“Umm what kind of tea is this?”

“Its Egyptian chamomile. Why?” Alfred asked. I hadn’t had that flavor, but it seemed so familiar.

“Umm nothing. Just really good.” I tried for a smile, but it came out strained. Alfred smiled down at me and went back to his cup, while Grayson walked over to me with eggs and oatmeal.

“Yeah, Alfred’s tea is famous and his food is legendary. Try it.” I took a spoon full of eggs and shoved it into my mouth. I wasn’t kidding when I said I wasn’t hungry. I didn’t feel like eating after all the stress, but Grayson was right. I needed my strength. The eggs were good though. There were spices in them and the oatmeal smelled sweet too.

“What I tell ya? Good right?” Grayson egged me on.

“Yeah, I really like it. Thanks Alfred.” Alfred just smiled again and went back to his paper. I ate slowly. Once I had managed to eat half the plate pushed it away from me and turned to dick. I needed to be stern with him now. I needed to see jerry and then I needed to try and figure out what I was going to do. After last night, it was obvious to me, that I can’t stay here with them. I needed to leave so they could be safe.

“Grayson, I need to see Jerry.” I demanded.

“Yeah, we will go down, but first we kind of need to speak with Batman and the others. And I know that you don’t want to see imp right now, but we do need his help with this. He has dealt with both the league and the court so he’s your best option on how to not only protect your friends, but yourself.” I knew that. I knew that I would need his help, but all I wanted to do right now is pretend he didn’t exist.

“I know, and maybe it would be best to speak to him first. I don’t want to make any promises to Jerry I can’t keep.”

“What do you mean by that dami?” Alfred on the other side was also looking at me.

“I can’t exactly stay with them. I don’t want them to suffer because of me. So I should leave. I just wanted to see what you think I should do. Where I should go?” Grayson’s lips pursed and he took a moment to think what he was going to say.

“Well, do you have any ideas on where you want to go?” he asked cautiously.

“Hmmm, I honestly haven’t given it much thought, but I was thinking about going east. It will be hard to track me if I left the country at this point. I mean, it be hard for anyone to be able to recognize anyone who is constantly moving.”

“Yeah, but you won’t be able to really live. You will be running constantly dami.”

“Yeah, but what else can I do? I can’t stay here. The court will find me. Grandfather will probably have assassins coming to either kill me or take me back to him.”

“Why don’t we go and see the others and talk to Batman. We can all come up with a plan.”

“I really don’t want to.”

“I’m sorry Damian, but you have to. We don’t want you to have to live a life like that. Running away won’t help.” he was right. I needed to deal with this.

“Ok. But afterwards I get to see Jerry AND talk to my friends.”

“Deal. Come on. We will call the others to come up.”

I let him lead my down a secret compartment that led me down the path to where I was last night. When we got to the bottom, he led to another part of the bunker where a large screen was hung.

“Wait here, while I get the others.” I let him leave while I explored the room a bit. It didn’t take him long to come back.  
Red hood came in first and red robin was right behind him.

“Long time no see, little bird.” Red hood came up to me and patted my still bandaged head lightly. I winced a bit, more from the sheer awkwardness I had from the act. It was stiff and uncomfortable.

“Hey Damian, how you feeling?” Tim asked me. He was still in his full costume.

“Fine.” I bit out sharply. See him right now, just reminded me that I was underservalince the second I got here. And the fact that Tim was just trying to get close to me for batman, actually hurt me.

“Good, glad to hear that you’re doing ok.”

“Ok guys, let me just try and get Batman on.” Grayson went to the keyboard and started to make the call. It was long till I saw Bruce up, rather than Batman.

“Oh, hey Bruce. We are all here, to talk about what to do about this situation.” There was a pause on both sides after that. A tense air starting to form between everyone and I was the main cause.  
“Yes, we will need to discuss this. Damian, you cannot stay here with these civilians.”  
“I know.” I said, not putting up a fight.  
“Yes, well i'd like you to come with Hood and Red Robin to Gotham so we can set you up here, as my ward, till we can be sure that the league will not be after you and that the court will be on the defensive regarding our rather than being offensive.” Bruce said all this with the most serious expression that I could not fathom him joking about it, but he had to be. He did not just basically order me to go with him. Not after what I saw him do to Jerry last night.  
Taking a step back I collided with Tim, who apparently had felt my hesitation and reluctance at the prospect of going with him.  
“No, I can’t do that.”  
“Damian, it won’t be horrible and it’s really the best option.” Grayson tried to reason with me.  
“No, I did not escape from one psychopath to run straight into another. Sorry Batman, but I can’t go there with you.”  
“Sigh, don’t be like this Damian. If you stay there you’ll be putting everyone in danger. If you go out on your own, you will be captured eventually.” Bruce took a deep breath.  
“I don’t care. At least it will be against my will. I won’t want to be there. If I go with you, then I will be literally being giving my freedom away.”  
“Damian, you don’t have freedom now. Living on the streets, hiding who you are from those people you call friends. That not freedom. Think about it son.” Bruce tried to reason with me. And although a part of me knew what he said was true, I wasn’t ready to just go with him. Not with what he did to jerry.  
“If this is about that boy, I am sorry that I did that too him. I’ve never attacked a civilian without cause before and I know that saying that doesn’t make up for what I did, but it happened and I must accept that I need to be in more control of my actions.”  
“Ok, let’s say I go with you? What happens to them, my friends?”  
“Nightwing will be put on patrol over them till we take care of the league and court, but he cannot protect them if he has to worry about you.”  
“True, but what am I supposed to do? Just sit back and let you handle it. I don’t want that. I want my grandfather to finally see he can’t have me.” Bruce smiled a little bit at my declaration.  
“He will. In time, but for now we must regroup and make a plan of attack and that is best done in our home base in Gotham.” He was right about everything; I just didn’t want to admit it. I knew I was being stubborn, grasping at straws to not let myself be taken again, but it was going to happen. Might as well at this point pick when I was going to be taken.  
“I want to be able to say goodbye and to make sure that Jerry is ok. He won’t be able to work for a while like that and I want to make sure they will be ok.”  
“Don’t worry about that, they will compensated for last night.”  
“Still, I want to talk to Jerry and Roxanne. I won’t tell them what’s going on; I just want them to know I will be ok.”  
“Of course, we will set up a meeting and you will get your chance to say your goodbyes.” Batman conceded. I felt a bit of a victory, granted I pretty sure batman wouldn’t have put much more of a fight on it.  
“Well, I’m glad that is taken care of. I think I have some parts of a deal to make good on Bruce. I’ll let you take care of the paper work and such. Good luck.” Grayson quickly hung up on him.  
“Why don’t you two go upstairs for some lunch while I and Dami here go check on Jerry?”  
Tim and hood nodded and went up the stairs we came down on. I let Grayson once again drag me through the halls to Jerry. When we came up on the infirmary door, I could hear movement. When Grayson pushed it open I could see Jerry was trying to get out of his bed, but was struggling with it.  
“Whoa there buddy, you shouldn’t be trying to make such grand escape when you can barely see.” Grayson quickly ran over to his side and started to push him back down into the bed.  
“Fuck off! Damian and I are getting the shit out of here! “Jerry screamed at Grayson.  
“Relax man, Damian is right here. Has been asking to see you.” Jerry twisted his body to look at me as I walked over to him. Seeing him now, it just reminded me of all the trouble I caused him.  
“Damian? Hey, what’s been going on?” I didn’t know how to answer that. So I stayed quiet for a second, but it was too long for Jerry.  
“What did they do Damian? Are you hurt? Damian, are you ok?” I looked up to his bandaged face, and I felt the tell tale signs of tears starting to form. Jerry just became more agitated at my unresponsiveness. I wanted to so badly tell him I was going to be ok, or that I was ok, but the truth was. I was so far from it. I just wanted him to be ok, and for us to go back home not have to worry about any of this. I wished I never I was born into the league. It would all be better if I just wasn’t here.


	29. 30

The house was big, and that was all i could really think to say when i was standing in front of it. Well i should say mansion i guess. I suppose if i thought more along the lines of mansion, then it should be expected, and when i thought of the fact that Bruce Wayne was Batman then i'm not surprised. He was rich, and his house was big. It made sense this way. 

But still, standing in front of it, while the others got out of the car and came around me, that's all i could really think about it. It was big, not as big as some of the places Grandfather had, but just big. And dark. It didn't look like anyone was home. It didn't look like anyone had ever been home. There was only one light on in this monstrosity and it was the one the lit up the front entrance way. It was dim, but compared to the rest of the house it was bright. If that made sense. It caught my eye immediately and the meaning behind its luminus was understood. I was going into this house. There was no running away, there was no going back. I was going to go in. i was going to have to sit down with mr.wayne and talk to him about my grandfather, i was going to have to tell him what his plans are, solidifying my treachery even more, and i will have to ignore the fact that right now, under this roof, i am once again, a prisoner. 

Grayson came up behind me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “Hey, i know it looks kinda darkish and creepy, buts not so bad. And besides you'll have us here with you,”

“I don't think that will make him feel any better about this Dick.” Tim said behind me. He and i sat next to each other the whole ride and i didn't even give him one glance. I Think he knew i was upset with him, but was trying to play it off. 

“Yeah, dick, this place is creepy looking, but we can you know, maybe go out in the back during the day. Alfred has a nice garden back there we can do stuff in.” Jason is weak. 

I continued to be quiet, pretending i wasn't even listening to any of their lame placates to get me to say something. I will only talk when i have to. I want this to be done and over with as soon as possible. Grayson led me up the steps, and we were only on the 5th one when the door opened gracefully and the older man i had come to know as Alfred stood in the doorway. Mr. Wayne had yet to come to greet us yet. I was ushered in through the door, where alfred took my coat and my bad with a raised eyebrow. Jason whispered that was it and Alfred nodded and took my things to an undisclosed room. I stood awkwardly for a moment in the hallway, unsure of where i should or could go. Tim came behind me and nudged me to a sitting area that was just a little ways from the entrance. 

“You can sit here till Alfred has your room ready for you, or if you're hungry we can probably get some food. Chances are Alfred has already made dinner.” Tim suggested. I remained quiet and just looked at the room. It was decorated with pristine dark wood and worn leather couches. A huge TV hung from the wall. It was a nice living room, but it seemed to lack this homey feeling that Roxanne's had. It was much bigger and had more room for activities, but it was so plain and seemed unnecessary. 

“Are you hungry Damian?” Grayson asked me hopefully. I think he just wanted me to say something. I had been quiet the whole time, because i didn't feel like talking. It seemed to trouble some to come up with something to say. But the way he was looking at me, it was so pitiful and desperate. I wanted to do something to make him atleast content, so i smiled and gave a small yes. He jumped to and ran to what i assumed was the kitchen. I looked around some where, jason plopped himself on the sofa and let himself be sucked in thru the cushions. I followed his lead and sat at the far end of the sofa. Tim took a seat in a lazy boy that wasn't too far away from us. Grayson came out and called for us to get in the kitchen to eat. Alfred was there setting the table. 

I was wondering when Mr. Wayne would show up. No one had said anything regarding his absence and i was starting to worry what i should be expecting. I looked around and saw that everyone else seemed to be fine. Then again maybe this was normal for them. I was interrupted from my thoughts when Alfred served me a plate that was filled with steaming seasoned vegetables. It looked and smelled great. Looking at the others, they started to eat already. 

“When you are done Master Damian, i will show you to your room, where you may prepare for bed.” alfred informed as i took my first bite. I nodded and went back to eating. It was good, but i wasn't particularly hungry. I knew i had to eat, if not then i don't know what would happen, or my new companions would act. My guess is not well. I ate half of it, and stood up. Alfred stepped up and was about to lead me to my room, when he looked behind me. Grayson was standing now too and about to follow us, but after a quick strict look from Alfred he sat back down, which i was grateful for. I wanted to be alone for now. I was led up a staircase and shown to a large room that had a king sized bed. The room was sparsely decorated, but it had some comforts in it. A large tv and desk were available. Looking around i saw a neat row of pencils and notebook laid out on the desk. Some small plants decorated the room too. It was simple, but still empty. It felt hollow. 

“There is a connected bathroom and if you wish there is some games or movies that are age appropriate in the cabinet under the Television. If you need any assistance i will be down the hall.” Alfred gave me a small bow, which left me feeling awkward. I've had servants bow to me before, but Alfred had helped me so much. He wasn't really a servant. I shifted awkwardly before copying his bow and saying a quiet thank you. He smiled softly and left the room, leaving me alone. I walked over to the bed and flopped down. I looked around the room some more from my little viewpoint above the covers and noticed a bookshelf. It was stacked with literature. I made my way over the small shelf and started to go threw the titles, War and peace, the Art of war, mein Kampf. It was a collection of someone that was going to be a dictator one day. It was filled with Titles about how to govern society. I shifted away from the books, feeling slightly repulsed. I wish now i had grabbed that book from Jerry now. I like his collection. It was filled with fantasy books where there was hero, or people coming together to become stronger. They had hope in them, while these, these books were just a reminder of my grandfather’s control. Stepping towards the dresser i checked and saw my clothes already organized and put away, with some new additions. Alongside my sweats for sleep were some blue cotton pajamas. They look comfortable, but i didn't want to take anything from these people. They were doing my a service by just helping me hide from my grandfather. I grabbed the sweats and started to change. 

I wanted to just go to sleep and try to deal with this new change tomorrow. 

 

Trying to fall asleep proved to be difficult. I was trying to listen for snores that weren't coming. My bed was too close to the ground, there was no rough jerking of the bed as someone threw their body into the mattress below me. There was no soft pat on my forehead.when i did finally managed to fall asleep it was rough and light. I would wake up to every soft creak, to every whisper of wind. I almost gave up, but i did sleep. When the sun finally started to rise i went with it. I dressed and sat at the desk, watching the window. Today i felt like i should try and find out the plan or if there was even a plan. I waited till late morning before getting the courage to open my door. Looking down the hallway i saw that it was empty. I followed the same path as i did yesterday and ended up back in the living room. I kept my steps lights and even as i heard the soft voices speaking in the kitchen. 

“We don't even know how to go about this yet Bruce. We can't just keep him hidden forever.”

“It won't be forever, just till Rhas makes his move, then we crush him.” that was definitely Mr. Wayne and Grayson talking.

“All we know is that Ra's has hired Deathstroke, we don't know if it has anything to do with Damian.”

“We know though that the court of Owls want him now, and that they will use force to get him.”

“So that's it? We just wait for them? I don't know if you remember this Bruce, but waiting for someone else to make the first move is what got him killed in the first place. We waited to long and Talia killed him. We can't wait like that again when we are given basically a second chance to do the right thing in the same situation.” Grayson’s voice had now started to rise. I hadn't heard him get very angry before. I don't think he was necessary angry as more as he was getting emotional. 

“It's not the same Dick, we are-” i stepped thru the door threshold. I wanted them to know i was there now. I understood what was happening now. They were just as clueless as i was.

“All we can do is wait and see what they are going to do right?” the two of them seemed to be lost for words. Apparently, so focused on their prior argument they hadn't noticed to small foot steps. 

“ Yes, that would be the more wise course of action. They will do it soon, and when they do, we will be ready.”

“Who do you think will move first?” 

“More than likely the court will. They have already made the first move, which was foiled, now that it is clear you are more heavily guarded, they will try to reach you one more time, but will fail again, then they will be forced to recollect themselves and go underground.” Mr. Wayne was straight to the point. 

“That sounds expected, but my grandfather is a bit more tenacious than some fat birds. He won't go down without a fight.”

“You are right, we will have to have a face to face encounter.”

“Do you think it will be civil?”

“ Doubt it, Hiring assassins to do his intel is to be expected.”

“Figured as much. He was obsessed with bringing my mother and i back, and when it failed, he became very rigid and impatient.”

“Speaking of which, what did happen to your mother?” The question wasn't meant to be offensive, but it certainly felt that way. To be honest, since i was brought back, i never felt anything for her except some kind of fear. I knew it didn't make sense. My Grandfather said that she had died trying to save me. The her sacrifice was one of a loving mother and that when she was finally restored, than she and i will reconcile, but that didn't make sense to me. If she died saving me, why would we need to make up. 

“ She’s not really around. When she was resurrected, something went wrong. Her soul was damaged or something. Right now, the best thing i can acquaint her with is a coma patient.” the two of them seemed to be structured silent by that. A small smile broke out on Grayson’s lips which was completely inappropriate for the subject, but i was oddly not bothered. 

“I'm sorry to hear that Damian. How about you grab some breakfast, then we can meet in my office and discuss on how to plan for a counter attack on the league when they finally launch their attack.” i felt a strain in me. I was being civil to the man, but he was still the asshole that has been giving me heart attacks for the past month. 

“Yeah, Tim and i will come in after we get ready.” Grayson for the save. 

“Sounds good.” Mr. Wayne left after that and went up the stairs with soft footsteps. I sighed and sat down. Alfred came in the room with a glass of milk and toast and a cup of fruit for me. I smiled at him let him serve me. I sat quietly as i waited to Time to finally wake up. 

 

It wasn't until noon that Tim finally woke up. He slumbered down the stairs, lacking any and all grace. He mumbled a bit of a good morning to Grayson and got himself some coffee. Alfred admonished his behaviour but otherwise ignored it. Tim sat down next to me and quietly sipping from the mug. 

We remained silent till he was halfway through his drink.   
“ Tim, how you feel about a tactic meeting?”

“Tactic meeting? When?”

“After breakfast?”

“Yeah, we are going to go up to Bruce’s office and talk there.”

“His office?” Tim’s eyes flashed down to the ground.

“Yeah, his office.” Grayson's eyes flashed up.

“Oh, yeah. We can now. I'm good with my coffee.”

“You need to eat something.”

“I'm good.”

“You're going to pass out if you do that too much.” i said off handedly. I didn't really care, but i just wanted them to shut up.Grayson looked over to me and smirked at Tim.Tim shook his head exasperated and turned back to the kitchen table. Grabbing a orange and peeling it. 

“Fine see?” Grayson smiled and held up his fist to me. I stared at it for a while and he kept offering it me. I shook my head and turned away from him.

“Damian! Don't leave me hanging!” i continued to ignore him and just start playing with a loose button on my shirt.

Grayson continued to whine as Tim ate and i played. When he was done i was ushered up the stairs again to go into Mr. Wayne’s office. When we got there Tim knocked quietly and a deep voice said for us to come in. when Grayson opened the door i saw Mr. Wayne sitting at large desk, he had papers scattered over the dark wood, but his attention was on us as we came in. He smiled at us as we sat down. There was only two chairs and Tim took the one to the left. I didn't know to sit or stand. I felt awkward , till Grayson nudge me to the seat. I sat down and Mr. Wayne seemed to light up at the action. He leaned forward and started to talk to us. It went by rather nicely. I was asked very little about what i remembered about my grandfather's security and even though i know what i was doing would hurt grandfather, i felt that i was doing the right thing. Grandfather had done so many horrific things in his life, and i suppose that by telling Mr. Wayne, maybe some of the wrong things could be fixed, or at least be known. 

In the end, Mr. Wayne had come with the idea that a direct attack was a bad idea and instead decided to send a message to my Grandfather to make a correspondence and tell him that i was now under Batman’s eye and that if he wished for another confrontation, then he would be met, but Mr.Wayne referred to the last time he and Grandfather went toe-to-toe and how it did not end well for him. I felt confident that Grandfather would be more careful from this point on. 

“So after you ‘subtlety’ threaten Rhas, what then?” Tim asked.

“We will have to play it by ear then.”

“No, after some time i will have to lead a coup and take control of the league.” they all spun their heads to me.

“What do you mean?”

“The league needs to be disbanded slowly. If no one is there to control it after Rha’s is taken out, then someone else will simply step in a take control and there is no way to know where that will go. So he needs to stay in command till a certain point and when the time is right, take him down. “ 

“Does it have to be you?” Mr. Wayne asked me as he leaned forward. His eyes were stern and harsh.

“No, but it must be someone who the league will recognize and follow. There are only a few people that they will respond to.”

“Who else?”

“My mother.” everyone’s back shot straight up and their posture stiffened. The room went even more silents, but a dead cold creeped in.

“Who else?”

“No one else that you'd want to take over.” 

“Hmmm, we will have to see. It makes sense what you say, but i don't want to have to put you in that situation.” 

“I get it. Thank you for your consideration mr. Wayne.” Grayson and tim tilted their head to me. 

“What did you say?”

“Thank you?” i said unsure of what it was that others were uncomfortable with.

“No, umm, no. just don't call him Mr. Wayne, ok. It's just wrong.” 

“Oh, sorry?”

“It's fine Damian. Call me what you feel comfortable with.” Mr. Wayne said. He got up from his chair and turned his back to me. His previous posture that was polite and welcoming became pensive and cold again. What did i say? 

“ We are going to go out for a while Bruce, get some fresh air. You know.”

“Do go to far.” Mr. Wayne said as Grayson pulled me out of m chair and pushed me to the door. I don't know what happened, but they seemed to want me to get out of the room. 

“Come on Damian, lets go play with Titus. Im sure he will love to play with you.” Grayson kept pushing me out the door and down the hall. I let him for now, only because it was too stuffy in that room.


	30. 31

Well shit, to be honest, this was supposed to end back during thanksgiving and I am ashamed of myself that it has spiraled down this far. I have started to write other stories because to be honest sometimes, this story is hard to write, but now with us nearing the end, I feel kind of sad. I had a lot of fun writing this. I remember sitting up late at night with music playing and just putting this out there with little to no care. I figured this would be one of those stories that I relevantly ignored and found by accident. Not toot my own horn, there has been a following to this, that has surprised me and to be honest made me rather humble. I’m sorry I hadn’t had much time to focus on this story as much. There is some major shit going to be happening soon and that is why. I wanted to plan this out so carefully, to make sure that this story ends as it came in. with me just having fun and telling a story of how a character that has been redeemed prior to death, come back and find others to support him and for him to open even more to his family.

I don’t know if any of you have noticed, but my other stories are centered around a similar situation. I love the Damian’s Character because he is a child, and there is so much growing he still must do. But anyway, thank you for maybe reading this rather than going straight for the story. I just wanted to thank you all that has been here since the beginning and those who are here now. This has been a fun ride, and I will talk to you guys at the end.

Some notable people that have messaged me or reviewed. Shout outs man!

NovaRainbow: You know you were going to be on here. Honestly, you’ve reviewed the most and your energy is what sometimes gives me inspiration to write when I’m just out of words.

Bricksheep: thank you for reviewing. It was nice to hear from you.

Little miss Banana head: you know, I remember when you first reviewed and I checked my email to see ‘little miss Banana head’ has reviewed. I was confused, but accepted it and laughed. Your name itself is a treat.

Small ghost: thank you for reading and enjoying my story. I was honored to hear from you.

Anyway, those are all the ones I can remember off the top of my head. I hope you guys come back and hit me up. Enjoy.

Walls.  
\-----------------------------------------------

“Ruff!” the large dog had tackled me immediately. The moment I had come into range for the dog to smell me, he had come at me full force. I tried to stave off the inevitable tackle, but all that did was make the impact that much harder. The dog had licked my face like it was starved and granted at first I groaned, the licks were joyful and it had been so long since I felt any kind of happiness like that. The dog was just so happy, it made me wonder where he had been for the night. I could have used him last night as a companion. Jason had to pull the dog off me, but the dog kept trying to tackle me, so I kneeled and started to pet him, to which he gladly took his chance to lick my face to happily.

“His name is Titus.” I smiled at that and just kept rubbing his neck. I stood up and the dog twist and turned to try and expel his energy.

“Come on, let’s go outside. I’m sure he’d love to play more out there.” Grayson said as he ushered me out the back door in a large back yard. It was beautiful and had plenty of room for exploration. Titus kept trying to nip at me so I took the offered ball from Tim a chucked it as far as is could. The dog took off and disappeared. 

“pretty Far their kiddo, but watch this.” Jason said as Titus came back and he took it from the dogs salivating mouth. Flicking his wrist to try and get some of the saliva off the ball before taking a step back and launching said ball what I’d like was over a mile away. Titus, like the loyal dog he was, blasted off in the same direction. I was mildly impressed by the dog’s perseverance, but Jason’s throw was far.

“Jason, why’d you throw it that far? It’s going to be a while before he comes back.” Dick admonished him. Jason just shrugged and scratched the back of his head.

“Sorry, just wanted to see how far it actually go.”

“Well now what?” Tim asked. I looked up at them and saw that they were all still looking at each other. This was awkward and the only helpful distraction had run off after an old tennis ball. At this point, is think it would too. The silence went on for a bit before Tim tried to start a conversation with me.

“So, how’d you sleep last night?” it was a simple question, but the answer was obvious. I saw that is still had deep dark circles under my eyes this morning. I’m starting to think they won’t ever go away.

“How do you think?” I snapped at him. He back off for now, staring at Dick for guidance. I was still a bit sore about Tim. it was starting to like him back in Bludhaven. He played basketball with us, and he was kind of smart. He managed to fill the normal mundane day of school with some interesting tidbits of knowledge i'd never heard before.

“Mmmmm, hey, why don’t we go in after and try to watch a movie?” Jason suggested. I looked up at him and he put his behemoth of a hand on top of my head. His hand alone could grip my scalp completely. If he wanted to him could use those hands to probably snap my neck right now, but he won’t, because he is here to make sure I don’t fall into the League or the court of owls. I have and will trust him.

“What movie?” I asked and I suddenly have three pairs of eyes on me. Probably shocked I was cooperating with them.

“Oh, umm, is there any movies you want to see? We have all the recent releases. We can watch any movie you’d want.” Grayson was excited and was throwing out names of movies I had never heard of. There was only one movie I could only really remember being mentioned. Roxanne had told me about Oliver twist movie, made in the 1950’s I think.

“Do you have the over twist movie? The old one?” I threw it out there, not expecting them to have it. Chances are we would just end up watching some random movie, but it was better than sitting in my bedroom by myself. The guys all looked at each other. Eyebrows raised far into their hairline as they seemed surprised by request.

“Yeah, we have it. Family favorite. We can get Alfred to get some popcorn and we can set up in the theater. It be fun!” Grayson was in full ‘fun’ mode. I’d like to say it was infectious, but I was still despondent. I was still saddened that I had to leave everyone, but it was necessary. I really shouldn’t even be going back Friday, but some childish part of me had only that to hold on to. That id see my friends again. I needed that to keep me going for now. 

Titus came back, but he needed water and a good rest. That mile dash had made him tired, but he still refused to leave my side. Nudging my hand and demanding that I remain in contact with him. We went through the back of the kitchen where Alfred was preparing dinner.

“Alfred! We are going to watch a movie, mind making the popcorn and joining us?” Jason said as he placed his jacket on the back of a chair.

“Movie night? I see, well then, please wash up before you do. I don’t want the dirt that you’ve collected to be dragged in there.”

“Sure Alfred, just let us know when you’re ready.” Grayson grabbed my wrist in his hand and started to lead me back up the stairs. I walked with him till I was at my room when I pulled my hand back out of his grip and made to grab the door handle.

“See ya in a little bit, dami” I ignored him and closed the door behind me, but had to open the door for a second so Titus could come in. he had started to paw at the door to get in. when he did get in he jumped on my bed and started to bark at me. I shushed him and he quieted.

“Hey boy, I need to go shower. I’ll be back ok?” the dog tilted his head and sat down on the edge of my mattress. Like he understood that he’d have to wait for me. I scratched his ear before I went into the jointed bathroom. I ran the shower and allowed myself to bask in the hot spray. It was relaxing having the water run over me, but I pulled myself away. I didn’t want Grayson or Tim or anyone to walk in here while I was still in the shower. I slipped out of the shower, and looked at myself in the mirror. I was still too skinny, my cheeks were shallow, missing the childish chubby cheeks I once possessed. I might have lost it due to growing, but anyone who looked at me would see that I was just malnourished. At least I was starting to look better. Better than when I first really saw myself at Roxanne’s. The first night there, when I saw my face, I looked like a ghost. Now, I just look like someone who was tired. Which I was, but at least I didn’t look like the zombie I was.

I stepped out of the bathroom, Titus still laying on my bed. Waiting for me to return. He perked up as I entered the room, but I held my arm out. I still needed to get dress. He obediently lowered himself. I dressed in my night sweats again ignoring the blue pajamas still offered. With nothing else to do other than wait for someone to come get me, I sat on the bed with Titus. He seemed so happy to have me there with him. His tail whipping the bed as I began to pet him. I sighed and sat back. I could pet him in silence for some time before a small knock came from my door. It opened a crack and I saw Tim peeking through the crack.

“Your dressed. Good.”

“Yeah.” Tim didn’t make a move for a moment, but he soon came in and closed the door behind him. I raised an eyebrow at him. What could he want.?

“*sigh* I want to talk to you.” Tim sighed out.

“What about?”

“I don’t want you to be mad at me. Or at least, I don’t really like this distance.” Tim came to sit beside me on my bed. I didn’t know what to say. I was hurt, and Tim wanting us to go back to being the way when he was just my tutor.

“Can you talk to me?”

“I don’t know what to say really. I’m just mad at you.” Tim sighed again a pressed his hand to his face. Pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I figured that much. It’s just that, I kind of did like tutoring you and playing with you”

“But you still lied to me. Grayson and Jason never lied to me. They wanted to talk to me so they did. Why did you have to pretend to actually care at school.” Tim’s mouth flopped open.

“D-Damian, I did care. Before we even met there, I cared. I knew that you wouldn’t be challenged with what they could offer you and I know that I hated that in school.”

“Why did you do it then? It was just so you could watch me, control me while making it seem like you were helping me.” I was so distrustful of him now. Everyone was upfront with me, while Tim had manipulated the system to get to me. Something I feared my grandfather would do. Something he had done.

“Damian, it wasn’t like that.”

“How was it then?” I didn’t want to have this conversation. Tim had made me feel like I was… I don’t know… he was there when I needed a distraction. He was fun when I wasn’t having a good day at school.

“Damian, you're right, but I had no plan to control you. I did lie to you, but I really did just want to watch out for you. We were all scared for you, I was scared for you. I needed to be close to you, to make sure that nothing would happen to you and to see if you were ok. Damian, I saw your eyes that day of the explosion. You were so tired.” Tim pleaded with me.

“I was tired.” I conceded. I was still tired, but I wasn’t going to voice it. He already knew.

“Yes, Damian, I promised myself to protect you from whatever came for you. I’m sorry that I couldn’t protect you from this.” how soulful. I considered his eyes and saw his crystal blue eyes shining down on me. Determination leaking from them, compelling me to forgive him. I rolled my eyes and turned away from his gaze.

“I suppose I can see your point, but don’t take this as me forgiving you.”

“So, you mean that you are willing to at least look at me?”

“I have been looking at you.”

“you have been ignoring me and giving me these sad kick puppy look.”

“I do not!” I rejected any notion that I was giving him any kick dog looks.

“Fine, but Dick has been giving me pitiful looks. You’ve given more attention to Jason than me.”

“Grayson has been the one giving those looks. He acts like I straight up hate him or something.”

“Well, he’s dealing with a lot too. He just wants to make sure you're happy.” that reminded me.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Just did, but shoot.” Tim reposition himself so he could pet Titus too.

“How did you guys know me? I mean like from before.” Tim adjusted himself. Uncomfortable with the question.

“That’s a big question Damian. I don’t think I should be the one to tell you.”

“Why not? You guys knew me, it obvious. Did we fight each other?” there is a chance we were enemies.

“Sort of. You and I fought a lot, but it wasn’t anything too serious.” he tried to brush it off.

“Were you part of the League? I don’t remember any mention of an alliance with the Batman, but if grandfather was smart he would try to forge one.”

“Closer, but no. we had no alliance with the league. It’s always been a war between us and them.”

“Then what is it?”

“This is a question for Bruce or Dick Damian. They should be the one talking to you.”

“I would, but to be honest every time I’m with Mr. Wayne I kind of want to run screaming and Grayson just doesn’t even want to touch the subject. I was the one that died, why can’t he just tell me what I need to know?”

“First thing first, don’t call Bruce that, it’s just weird. Too formal. Just call him Bruce or something like that. And two, Damian, I can’t say much, but Dick and Bruce, they are still healing from a lot of things. And one of those things was losing you.”

“Why?”

“You were a ten-year-old boy, a child fighting a war you should have never been forced into. And no one could have save you that day. It haunted all of us. Damian, you are and don’t take this the wrong way, you are our greatest failure. We lost you, because we couldn’t save you. And now that we get a second chance, we just want to make nothing goes wrong.”

“Well, a lot of things have gone wrong.”

“You're telling me. We just need to work together more.”

“How can we work together if I’m not being told anything.”

“Fair point, but something to be addressed tomorrow. Right now, we are going to go watch a movie with everyone.” Tim successfully ended the conversation with that and stood up. Titus followed and so did I. I walked with him to the theater where everyone was already seated. Bruce was in here too, seated in the middle of the group, facing the screen.

“There you two are, come on, we are waiting. We even got the big guy to sit with us, cause it’s his favorite movie.” Grayson waved his hand childishly at us. Tim gestured me to take a seat and I did, next to Grayson, who seemed to be more than happy that I had chosen his side to sit by. Alfred came and offered me a small bowl of popcorn, and thanked him and took it. Grayson eyed me for a minute and I gave him a pointed look. I wasn’t sharing. He smiled and shook his head. I was reminded that he and I had a past. I wonder if this was normal for him. Maybe we watched movies together like this before. I nuzzled deeper into his side. He was warm and my body was providing enough heat by itself. I’d like to think we did this before, if not what a waste. He was rather comfortable.

On the other side of me, Tim had thrown himself into the seat and was not munching happily of his own bowl. He gave a cry of outrage as Jason reached over and grabbed a handful of the snack though. When I saw, Jason eye my bowl I clutched it closer to myself and glared back at him. He humphed and went for Tim’s again. Alfred broke up the fight with more popcorn and went to start the movie. Soon I could only focus on the black and white screen and the story of a lost boy.


	31. 32

The week past in actual peace, if mean don’t get me wrong. Every time it was caught alone with anyone, well other than Alfred, was awkward. It was rather peaceful. I had managed to fall into routine there were if would wake up, go down stairs for breakfast, get my days’ worth of homework and be left to my own devices. I would usually do my work first then maybe go play with Titus or become acquainted with the cat that was affectionately named Alfred too. I laughed when it was told that was the felines name and to help differentiate the two Alfred if called human Alfred Pennyworths now. He didn’t make a complain so if figured he was ok with it, that cat was more than happy with the attention it was receiving. With all these helpful distractions though, if was still looking forward to Friday when if could see everyone again. I was practically giddy Thursday night when Bruce and dick started to make travel plans for the following morning to head that way.

The morning of Bruce packed everyone is a large SUV that fit most of us comfortable. Alfred was tagging along and was taking the front seat, so that left the three seaters of a back seat to the four of us. I was forced to sit practically on Dicks and Jason’s lap in a humiliation of what was an apparent rule. Youngest must take the hump. I rolled my eyes and let them hold me instead of a seat belt. Anything to just get back to blood haven. I really was missing everyone and was excited to hear how everyone was doing. I had longed for the walks to school and the chaotic house that held all of us.

Stay at the manor was peaceful, but if missed the hustle and bustle of everyone just living their own life. That was probably why when we came up on the on the horizon of the city if could barely from bouncing off Dick lap and onto Tim’s. We were smashed very tightly. I blamed it on Jason’s and his behemoth sized body. It was all ignored though when we drove by some familiar streets and if felt it in my core that we were going to Roxanne’s home.

Coming up on the small building Bruce parked across the street from it and if had to wait for Dick and Jason to climb out. When it was already out the door opened and Roxanne and Jerry stepped out of the house. The apparently were waiting for us.

“Damian!” Jerry called and ran up to me and not too far behind was the heard of children that Roxanne had cultivated. Jerry didn’t wait for me to cross the street before he swooped in and hoisted me up. Everyone else seemed to just circle around us. The little ones were reaching up to grab my legs to probably hoist themselves up Jerry as well, while sally and Jane each circled outside of the little pit of hugs. Veronica was too busy trying to grab my face to look at it. Looking for any sign of misgivings that Bruce was giving me. While Jerold, Ash and Randall all were trying to ask me a million questions of what it was doing while it was gone. If was ok? How long would it be staying? And so on. I was at a loss of words when Roxanne finally came down and started to usher everyone into the house. The Wayne hung back with some apprehension, but Roxanne just grabbed Tim’s and Jason’s shoulders and pushed them in. Bruce and dick followed not too far behind.

Jerry brought us to the dining room where he sat me down beside him and took the seat next to me. Veronica took the other one. Randal and Jerold each stood beside me while ash and the others took the ones around us. Roxanne stood at the head of the table, watching us with her smile that said she knew all. The Wayne’s stayed right outside of the dining room though and no one seemed too keen on inviting them in.

Everyone seemed ok. Without me here, everyone seemed to be ok. The young ones were telling me stories about their week. Apparently if had missed much and they had a whole weeks’ worth to share. The others were putting in their little tid bits of their own week when they could. I almost laughed at how everyone was ecstatic to tell me the most mundane things. I listened to them of course and when the noon sun became dusk we were ushered to the side walk outside. Before if got out side though, jerry pulled me aside to speak to me.

“Hey Damian, everything is ok, right? I know we’ve asked so many times, but be honest with me.” The bruises hadn’t faded yet and the swelling was still prominent on his face.

“Yeah, everything is ok. I mean I’m not thrilled, but I’m safe and everyone else is safe. That’s all if wanted.” he seemed to take my words to heart and accepted that this was the best course of action.

“Ok, as long as you and everyone else is safe, we are going to be fine.” he patted my head and reached behind his back for something. Pulling out his hitch hiker guide to the galaxy book he presented it to me.

“Here, if know you liked it and if can’t see Mr. doom and gloom having a copy so you can have mine for now.”

“And give it back when it gets my own copy?”

“Of course.” Jerry pushed me out to the group again and if tucked the book safely in to back of my pocket. We formed the line that we usually did when walking to school. When Bruce had asked why not drive, Roxanne rolled her eyes at the man, pointing to all the children and how he expected to fit all of them into the van and even if they did take Bruce’s SUV it wouldn’t fit all of them.

“I think she has it worse than you Bruce. She might set the record for most adopted.” Tim joked at him, but he was ignoring in favor of Bruce taking point beside me while if held onto Jerold’s hand. He seemed to be keen on having some sort of contact with me always. The walk to school was quick as perusal and if could see that the lights in the gym were still on while the rest of the school was dark. Some older women who must have been part of the PTA came up to us to ask us if would mind putting on these dumb little stickers that said, ‘HELLO MY NAME IS’. if rolled my eyes and put my name on it and stuck it to my chest while everyone else did the same. The moms then started to emit us all in, but she pushed Dick, Jason and Jerry in her eyes focused on them. Did they do something? I looked back at them and Jerry shrugged at her and side stepped her. While Jason and Dick both laughed awkwardly around her and tried to do the same, but she caught them and started to blabber on something to them. I had a feeling it be a while before they clawed their way to freedom.

“Got to be quicker than that if you want to avoid cougars in this town.” cougars? I looked back at them one more time and she now had Dick backed up to the wall and Jason trying to crawl around her. “They should be fine, don’t worry.”

“Cougars?”

“Ahhh, to be young. One day you will have to deal with them as well Damian and as such it will have to teach you my ways of the great escape.” Swing his arm around me Jerry walked me to the sign in for the artist that were being shown.

“What about Randal and Ash?”

“Too late for them. Won’t be able to smooth talk their way out.”

“Hehehehe.” if laughed while Jerold just glared at him. Jerry smacked his hand over his eyes in a playful move to get him to stop. Which he did. Joining us in our little roast.

“Alright, let’s go check out the others art than your Damian.” Roxanne was again trying to steer us, while in the background if could see pennyworth distracting the cougar for Jason and Dick escape. Hehehe, maybe if should take some lessons from Jerry about that. 

Change of pov. Bruce

It was odd seeing Damian act so much like a regular kid. He was practically shaking from excitement in the car and when the boy came out of the house, his face became so much lighter. I used to only see that look when he was with Dick. I’m sure Dick was taking too cold shoulder hard, but he understood that Damian was still not his brother. Not yet at east. It didn’t matter if he never got his memory back, the relationship can grow again between those two. But for me and him, if felt nothing but despair. We would always butt heads before, but at least we both knew that we loved each other. He was my son, my baby and when he if lost him, my world fell apart. And now that’s he’s back, now that he’s found a new family, if can’t help but feel this horrible ache deep inside of me. The only way if could even get him to come close to me was practically black mail. If it weren’t for the court of owls and Rhas’s advancements, he would have an arm’s length between us physically, but emotionally if feel like I’m further away from him than when he didn’t know me at all.

Tim came to me during the week and brought up the fact that Damian could figure out that we knew him from before his death. That he wanted answer, and if wanted so desperately to tell him if was his father and to promise him that nothing like that would ever happen again, but that boy was right. I was hurting Damian by taking him away from those he came to trust on his own, and by diving him, if had lost so much trust that if hadn’t even had yet.

And although if knew if had no right, if wanted to so body take my boy into my arms and keep him away from them. They were a weakness. These kids were a liability and the longer he held on, the more likely he was going to be hurt when they eventually left him or worse died because they knew him.

But if couldn’t. Not when he needed someone to be there for him. And like it or not, that couldn’t be me. I let him wander around the gym with his friends and Dick not too far behind and started to look around the other kid’s projects. There were some nice ones, and a small list of names with offers to buy them. I’m sure most of the offers were from their parents. I was starting to wonder if Damian had put his up as well. The flyers said it went to the more than likely underfunded art program the school had and if couldn’t see Damian saying no to that. It was alphabetical by last name, but his wasn’t anywhere near the W’s. that’s when it dawned on him that Damian didn’t really have his name. Didn’t really have any name. Making a mental note to have that addressed later he went to the end of the line of silly art projects to see his son’s. The very last one it would seem.

A bright and beautiful painting of soaring birds. No doubt Damian’s work and so representative of his brothers. ‘Did Damian even realize what his own work meant? Was this message from his subconscious? They were Robins.’ approaching the painting he could see that someone had tried to place a bid on the painting. The name didn’t belong to Roxane though. ‘Carver’. He was here? I spun around to try and see if could catch a glimpse of the man. nothing. if glared down at the written name. How dare he try and claim something from my son. Quickly signing my name on and making a much more generation offer if stepped away. He had to be around here somewhere. Looking back and forth if saw that Damián was talking to Veronica Pierce.

I had considered each of these children cases. All of them were sleeper agents for the leviathan attack and when things finally calmed down, they were left with no place to go. There were houses for them, but they were all over runned that most of the children once they reached their teenage years, usually left. Another mental note to address that issue.

Damian was fine. Tim, Jason and Dick were next to him and Alfred was off to the side, talking to Roxanne. It painted quite a nice picture. All the children out at their school and the parents over seeing everyone. It was charming and beautiful to see most of everyone at complete ease. That boy though. Jerry. He kept sending me glances and keeping the other children’s distance from Dick and the others. But if can’t blame him. That beating was unnecessary and if was truly sorry for what if had done to him. He was just trying to protect one of his brothers from someone he didn’t trust.

Sighing if shook my head and tried to find Carver again. He had to be hiding here somewhere.

“It’s quite a nice picture, isn’t it?” the voice had me go rigid. Everything in me screamed for me to take that voice down. Regardless of the consequences of doing so in a public place.

Turning around if saw carver in a nice off gray suite, leaning over the table where Damian’s painting was. Signing in again and making an offer to counter mine.

“He’s quite the artist, isn’t he? Talented in so many things.” Carver said as he stood to face me. Ignoring the fact that if hadn’t answered his question. This man. He is something if can’t put to words. He tries to coheres my son into joining him, tries to steal him and make an already difficult situation even more so. And to show up here, when things were just starting to find solid ground.

“He seems rather happy with them. He’d be heartbroken if anything happened to them.”

“Is that a threat?” I would tear him apart if he tried to cause Damian any pain at all.

“No, just making an observation. If did anything to them, then he would refuse to work with me. And even if tried to take them hostage, the situation would be too … unsavory for me.”

“That be the first time. Why are you here?”

“To make my offer again. Show someone you power once and they usually reconsider your offer. And mine was so generous. “

“It is unnecessary now. He is with me and mine. And in case you forgot the last time you tried this, you lost. Badly.” if took a bit of sadification at the grimace he gave me. He remembered.

“Yes, the Grayson. The court lost him, but if have a good feeling about Damian. He’s too lost. Maybe too far gone.”

“That’s what you think, but you need to do better research. He’s far from lost. He knows what he wants and it’s not you.”

“We will see about that.” and he walked off. Once he did, if went back to the painting and put another bid down. Walking over to the them if put my hand on Dick’s shoulders to get his attention. He looked up to me and if nodded for him to follow me. I don’t believe our absence was noticed so when if pulled him to the darken school hallway we blend in to the dark.

“What’s up?”

“We got trouble. Carver is here.”

“Should we leave?”

“I think we should hurry them along. Get them away from here soon.”

“Ok, ill suggest we go to ice cream or pizza or something.” if nodded and let him go back to the group. He started talking to them and it looked like they were buying what he had to say when a scream from the crowd was let out. It wasn’t like the usual screaming of children, but one of horror. The hairs on my neck stood straight.

Spinning back to where they were if saw Dick and Jason take point and start looking for potential attackers and soon enough, Talons were coming from the walls. Jason and Dick were both over taken by them and had to leave Tim to take care of the small group of children. Alfred came running in and started to push everyone out the doors. I ran to them and hoped to god that I’d be able to stop them before they got too close to Damian.

Back to Damian pov.

Everything was in chaos. We were just about to leave too, but then we heard someone scream and that’s when hell broke loose. Jason and Dick both started to defend us from those things. Alfred grabbed me and the others and started to push us to the exit. Bruce was running towards us, but was tackled by a talon and was out of view. When we got outside, it was just as chaotic as it was inside. The police were just starting to show up and people were loading their kids into cars.

“Come on!” Jerry yelled at us as he picked up the little ones to run faster. I looked back and saw that the building was starting to catch fire. Policemen were being thrown every which way. Talons climbing the walls and running towards me. Crap. if started running, but they were gaining speed and pushing anyone who got in their way to the ground. Looking around if didn’t see Dick or anyone, so if had to go off on my own for now. Which meant, goodbye everyone. Taking a long glance at everyone’s running back if knew that this would probably be the last time if would see them. Hopefully I’ll see you in the next life.

Taking a sharp turn if disappeared from everyone’s views for a millisecond, but the Talons were on hot pursuit within a minute. I was ready. Running through the ally if grabbed a loose piece of long metal and started to sprint up the fire escape. One of the Talons jumped up onto the railing and if took the shot and shoved the blunt part of the metal rod into the things throat. It knocked him down and if heard a gross sound as it hit the ground, but ignored it. I had three more coming up on me. Spinning the metal bar in my hands if felt the rush of adrenaline that if felt when it was on a mission for my grandfather. I hadn’t really felt it like this for a long time. It was so clear now. What if had to do.

The second one came up from behind while another one came up in front of me. The one behind me lunged and if hopped up and jumped behind him, letting him tackle the one in front of me. When if landed, if took the metal and used it to impale the two of them to the grated stairway. Pinning them their as if turned to the last one that was chasing me. I was ready for him. When he came at me if spun and let him miss me, but then he ran and almost caught me. I swiveled though and hoisted myself up and kicked my legs out and pushed him down the stairs. I landed and looked around if didn’t see anyone else coming at me. Figuring it was safe to finally leave my perch if jumped the railing and landed. The Talons if had pinned were still struggling to get out from under it.

I need to get back to Bruce and the others.

“You are very well trained if see.” a voice that if barely recognized spoke. I spun around and saw that the man from before that tried to adopt me was there and with him was 8 talons. Shit.

“You are by far more valuable than if thought. You will be coming with me now.” he sent the Talons at once to come at me. I didn’t even get a chance to yell. Everything went dark and the last thing if saw was that man, smiling cruelly at me.


	32. 33

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the whole story is under revision. sorry for late update.

I was getting real tired of all this crap. I woke up not even 5 minutes ago and realized that I was literally chained to the wall. My arms were numb from being held up and my neck was stiff from the position it was held in while I was unconscious. I tried to pry my hand out of the cuff but there was no way I could even slip out of them. I had to wait and hope for a miracle. God, even thinking that I knew how screwed I was. I sighed and let my head roll back against the bricked wall. I won’t know how long I sat there in silence, but when the door opened I didn't have the energy to jump or even be surprised. I knew someone would be coming soon.

The person that came through the door took a few steps to stand in front of me. A cold hand reach forward and grabbed my chin to force me to turn and look at them. That man. Carver. He was holding my face now and I had to hold back from spitting in his face.

“Welcome to the court of owls Damian.”

“I thought I rejected that offer.”

“No one rejects our offer.”

“I can see that now.” I gestured to my chained hands.

“Yes, well, I have some questions for you.” he chuckled at me.  
“I'm obviously here for your entertainment.” My sarcasm leaked like a faucet.

“Who trained you? You took out a couple of Talons and even if you did live with Batman for a week and trained, there's no way you could have been the well trained. You had to have some beforehand.”

“Do you really not know who I am?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Isn’t the court of owls supposed to be high intelligence. Did you really think that you found someone who was that highly skilled randomly?” He didn't answer me. “Have you ever heard of the League of Assassins? You know much older. More equipped. Better staffed and to be honest. You might run Gotham, but the league runs that world.” Caver's face now turned sour and twisted into an ugly frown.

“In short. They are looking for me. You have me. The court has me. You're screwed. “Carver’s face turned to the shadows. Thinking I assume. Hopefully about how stupid he is.

When Carver turned back to me, he grabbed my face again, digging his nails into the flesh of my left cheek. I didn't allow myself to react, but his nails burned me. The now opened wound wept blood as he removed his hand from my face and went back standing confidently in my presence.

“We can take the league, and if they want you so bad that they are willing to destroy us, then we can just kill you.”

“It wouldn't be my first death.”

“Regardless of that, you are still a valuable pawn in this. The Batman wants you.”

“Something tells me he won't like that you've taken me.”

“Did you not learn? If you speak one more time out of turn, I will have to punish you again.”

“Was that punishment? I thought you just wanted to see if you could hurt me.” Carver smiled at me and took a step closer to me. Getting right in my face. I could feel his hot breath brush against my face.

“That was a punishment, but I also just wanted to mark you. Your mine. And I want everyone who sees your face to know that.” Whelp, I'm not holding this back. I shot a look straight at him. With his so close it hit his eye and he jumped back. Hand clutching his eye as he hunched away from me. It was such a pathetic stance and see him like that made me feel like had some control.

“Insolent trash!” he screamed at me. He came back and grabbed a fist full of my hair and pulled up. I could hear parts of my scalp tearing as he ruthlessly yanked. “I can make you regret life. I can make you regret every breath. I can make you regret ever defying me. So, you should learn to just as I say. If I tell you to stop breathing, you stop. If I tell you to sit, you sit. You are a dog, and I am your master.”

“Ahhhh” I whined as he ripped my head again. He threw me down as far as the chains would allow.

“Now sit.” and with that he walked back out. Cursing me and wiping at his face.  
____________________________________________________________________

I don't know when I fell asleep, or how I managed to. Then again, maybe it wasn't sleep. Maybe I had just passed out. Probably that. What woke me up was the pounding. It must have been my head. My scalp burned something awful. It felt like my hair line dropping into my line of vision. I tried to look around and see if anything was different, but I accidentally rubbed my cheek against my shoulder. The scratched he put there were deep. If I didn't get it treated soon, then it would scar and then I would have a mark from him. Just like how he wanted. I shuddered in disgust at the thought.

BOOM  
There goes my head again. Damn, it sounds so loud.

BOOM  
*screaming*

Ok, that wasn't my head something was happening outside. I listened more closely to the noises and it seemed like they were getting closer. The screaming didn't repeat though. What was going on?

I started to count the bombs and the seconds as they started to get closer.  
BOOM  
123456789  
BOOM  
123456  
BOOM  
1234  
BOOM  
That one was right outside of my door. For a second, I thought maybe Batman had managed to get to me. That would be the miracle that I had crapped on earlier.

The door flew open in a final explosion. And in stepped my hero. I looked through the rubble and dust as it settled to the floor. Shit. that is not a hero. In fact, I would go as far to say that he was going to be my damn. He was literally going to be the one to drag me to hell, or back to it.  
In his full glory, death stroke stepped through the dust.

“Well, well, well. And here I thought it would be another 20 minutes’ tops before we retrieved you. Then again, I also thought it would have been more of a challenge to destroy those birds, but I was disappointed there. At least, the least fun part of the job was fast. Now, all we have to do is drop you off back home and be on me marry way.” fuck. Fuck. fuck. I'm so fucked. The court of owls was screwed and apparently dead, but I'm so fucked.

Death stroke came up and left one of my chained hands up. Looking at my state. He must have seen the gashes on my cheek, he chuckled a bit at my pathetic state.

“Looks like you lost brat.” Death stroke unsheathed his swords and cut through the chains. I fell limply to the hard floor with a thud. Death stroke stepped over me and toed me to roll over.

“Well, enough procrastinating. Your grandfather paid me a shit ton to retrieve you and if I want the other half of a shit ton, I need to drop you off. So, make this easy and walk, or I'll have to drop you.” so I could walk with pride or be a child and make him put in the little effort it would take to drag me. Shit. I had to push past the stiffness and pain to stand and start walking. Death stroke stayed close. To be sure to discourage any plan I might have to escape.  
Walking down the hallways I got to see what was left of the court. When I said all those things to Carver, I didn't think it is to this extent, but grandfather hired Wilson, and he was the best for a reason. The walls were decorated with splatters of blood and the ceilings dripped with what I assumed was the, um, guts of the court.

I continued to walk back home. Shit.  
____________________________________________________________________

Dick pov.

The Talons that had attacked the school was easily destroyed, but it took too much precious time and Damian was out of sight. I hoped the Alfred succeeded in evacuating everyone. I'm sure I saw the man pushing Damian to the door when the Talons started to come out. The kids followed him, but I had a sinking feeling that something bad had happened.

“Bruce, come on. We need to go!” I yelled at Bruce as I took off out of the school. Jason and Tim looked up from the most recent takedowns and hop-to to join me. Running down the same path that I was led down on earlier. I remember how nice it was to walk with such a large group of lively kids. The way they congregated and surrounded Damian and the way he just seemed to sink back into the routine with them. The way they walked, talked and even stood next to each other. There were so much love and trust between them. I'd be lying if I wasn't jealous. I can remember a time when Damian would look at me like that. With so much trust and… well, love. I was his Batman, his mentor, his big brother and for a spell, I was his father. For the longest time, I was ashamed of that thought. Bruce was his father, not me. So, when he came back, I had to leave Damian. I thought it was the right thing to do, but I agonizingly missed him. It may not have been my right to claim Damian as a son, but I had. And giving him up was the biggest regret of my life. And losing him to his mother broke me more than anything this world has thrown at me.

I ran down the pavement, back to the little house where the group of kids and Alfred was. There was screaming and crying coming from the smallest ones, while the older kids were screaming at Mrs. Roxanne. The women looked distraught and she was trying to calm the young ones down, while at the same time she was talking admittedly with Alfred. I ran up to Alfred and tried to get his attention. He looked at me and I saw the horror on his face. His eyes wide and his face crumpled in high anxiety. That's when I realized. There was no sign of Damian anywhere.

“Alfred, Where’s Damian?” I could hear the fear dripping from my own voice. No. no. no. this can't be happening. Not again.

“I don't know. He was just here.” His voice was grave and his eyes looked pleading up to the sky. Praying to whatever god may be listening to him at this point.

“Shit.” I pressed my fist to my temple. This could not be happening. Bruce and the other two finally caught up and could tell immediately tell that something was wrong.

“Where’s Damian?” Bruce demanded.

“We lost him when we were running here.” That guy, Jerry spoke up. He was holding the little girl his arms. She was still sobbing, and he had stopped trying to shush her.

“How did that happen?” Bruce growled out. Barely restraining himself from lashing out at the guy. I turned away from them. My mind already trying to figure out where in Gotham they would be.

“We were running and he was right beside us, but then he wasn't. We are going back the way we went to see if we can find something.” Jerry was handing the little girl over to Roxanne, while the older boys nodded in an agreement.

“Not happening,” Jason interjected. Putting his arm out.

“We are going to look for Damian.” the boy named Randall said. Taking his stand against Jason.

“We can't let you. It's dangerous.” Tim tried to deter them.

“Doesn't matter. We are going.” Jerry was speaking again. I turned around and saw the three of them starting to walk back down the sidewalk.

“What about them. You're just going to leave your family here? What if they come to grab the rest of you? They know how close you all are to him. They can use you to make him do anything.” Bruce threatened them. Well, it wasn't a threat, but it felt like it. The message was clear. They couldn't come and if they did, they would be killing everyone else. Maybe not really, but there was a chance that their choice to go after Damian and leaving Roxanne with the younger children, then anything that would happen, would be their fault.

It worked though. The three of them stopped and looked back at the small group standing by the house. Each of them seemed to be having inner turmoil about the subject. Thank god, I'm not in their shoes. I can just go after Damian and not have to worry about leaving this family behind. I just need to find Damian.

Speaking of which, I was done waiting.

“I'm leaving, Bruce catches up when you can.” I was about to take off when Jerry asked a core rocking question.

“Wait, where’s Jerold?” shit.

We all started to run down the street, backtracking the way they went. Jerold, the boy that had been holding onto Damian when they walked to the school. He stuck close to Damian the whole event. So maybe he saw where Damian went.

We got to an intersection and saw three possible ways Damian could have broken off from the group.  
“Ok, Tim you take Ash and Randal south. Jason, you take Jerry and Dick you’re with me.” Bruce handed out orders. I followed Bruce down one alley and looked for any signs for Damian or that kid. He was quiet and probably scared.

“We need to drop these people off and get back to Gotham as fast as we can. We have a 48-hour window before they are able to move Damian to some insane security.” I voiced. I know that he already knew, but I felt like I was wasting time now. Like we were wasting time trying to track where they took him from, but maybe we could see which direction they went. Bruce didn't answer to me, but he heard me. Just kept looking around. Maybe he was hoping that he would see his little boy hiding somewhere. Maybe behind a dumpster or under some boxes. I can understand it. If he had paid more attention to the homeless kids in Gotham, maybe he would have seen Damian. Found him sooner and taken him home. Avoided all of this.

“WHAT THE FLYING FUCK! JEROLD!” that got mine and Bruce's attention. Sounds like they found that kid at least. We ran to where the yelling came from. It was with Tim and the other two boys.

Rounding the corner, we came on a rather odd scene. The kid, Jerold had a pipe pulled rather tightly against a Talons neck. Pulling it up and affecting choking the creature. The Talon’s limbs were bent in sharp angels. Looks like the kid beat every living crap out of it. The kid was still pulling the Talon by the head up and the Talon was pathetically trying to jerk itself out of the hold. Its arms lying uselessly on the ground not too far away from them. Tim was holding his hands up trying to pacify the kid, but the kid seemed like he was the calmest out of all of us. Randal and Ash were both freaking out. Their jaws hanging and at a loss of words at the current moment.

“What? This was one of those things that attacked. I figured that we can make ask this thing where they were taking Damian and from there we can go pick him up.” this kid had managed to track down and incapacitate a Talon. By himself.

“Jerold, please, just step back and let Bruce or Dick take that thing. It's very dangerous.” Tim tried again.

“Not anymore it is.”

“Ok, this is where we really have to talk about your homicidal tendencies.” Randal panicked voice broke my concentration.

“Shut up. You have them too, I just learned to listen to my training. Rather than ignoring those quiet whispers. Hoping they go away. Guess what Randal, they won't. They won't ever leave us. We are Leviathans. Made to serve the Al Ghul. “ah crap. He’s a member of the league.

“Harold. What are you talking about? We aren't leviathans.” Ash tried to again with this kid, but the kid was already so far gone.

“Damian is the son of has al Ghul. We are created to serve the al Ghul line and such anyone that threatens that line is to be eliminated.” He choked the Talon a bit more on that last part. If I didn't already know that thing was dead I would have felt bad, but at the current moment, my mood didn't allow for such alliances.

“This thing will tell me where they have taken him and I can fulfill my mission and return Damian back to his rightful pace.” The boys were at a loss of what to say and I was just so done with all the BS today had brought. I wanted my brother back, and this little snot was just holding us up. Although, I will give him credit, catching that Talon would come in handy. It won't be able to tell us anything, but I'm sure there's tracking we can use to reverse the GPS setting.

“He’s not the son of Rhas al Ghul. He's mine.” Bruce announced. The two boys took a step back while that Jerry guy just snarled under his breath. He probably could figure it out and was just holding his tongue. I mean there was no way that he didn't know. He figured out the Bruce was Batman and Damian looked just like Bruce. It was only a matter of time.

“You? You’re his...? You're the Batman. Arnt you?” The boy’s posture turned violent on Bruce. Bruce just took the advancement like it was nothing.

“Wait, this is too much too soon. What is going on!?!” Randal begged, but I was going to listen to him. Tim and Jason were making moves now to disengage the boy while Bruce served as a distraction.

Tim lunged while Jason tackled, but the boy threw the Talon at them and brought his weapon up and was about to strike Bruce down with it, but Bruce caught the metal before it contacted him and I grabbed the boy in a headlock. He struggled for a second before trying to gain level ground.

“You were done? Good. You've been with Damian this whole time under the orders of Rhas?”

“Fuck you! Your nothing compared to our leader.” The boy snarled at him. Bruce calmly walked to me. Grabbing the boy by his chin and raising his face up to look him in the eyes.

“What is Rhas’s plan?”

“Your going to have to find that out on your own. I'm not going to talk Batman.” Bruce had to take a deep breath in to calm his nerves. I, on the other hand, took this moment to tighten my hold on the little bastard. He choked for a second before taking small hiccups of breaths. “I will tell you thins. By tonight, Damian will be back where he belongs.” the boy stared harshly at Bruce who just kept his stern glare.

Bruce turned away from him and started to walk back to the entrance of the alleyway. “You're right about that. By tonight, he will be back where he belongs.” Bruce said over his shoulder as he continued to walk out. His back rigid and the Batman taking over Bruce. He was going into war mode. Which was just fine with me. I was done trying to play this game. Tim and Jason dragged the Talon with them as they followed, while I flexed my arms so they would cut the air supply to the boy. He gagged for a moment, but then he relaxed and let him fall halfway before dragging him with us. He was an agent of Rhas, so he could still give us where he would be held up and even if he couldn't, we couldn't leave him here. Not now.


	33. the interrogation

Tim’s pov.

The boy was cuffed to the interrogation table. He had awoke not too long ago and almost immediately started trying to escape, but even his slim wrists were unable to slip past the restraints Batman had placed him in. that didn't stop him though. He continued to struggle and cause deep red scratches start to appear on his body. He would growl and hiss anytime the restraints wouldn't bend to his will.   
Batman had walked away from his still form when he was secured to start the process of tracking and locating where Rha’s would be hiding. If we planned on getting Damian back, we had to move quick. Though the urgency still thrummed through me, I had to keep my cool headedness. Dick had long since been removed from the cave due to his incessant pacing. His constant muttering and anxiety over the situation was not helping. Batman was just about to snapped at him to sit down when Alfred came to the rescue and directed Dick backup to ‘help’ him in making preparations for when Damian came home. It was a sweet idea, and i'm sure Dick needed something positive to distract him. We all did, but right now i needed to focus. Jason was off on the side of the batcomputer watching as Batman typed away, twirling a hunting knife menacingly as he watched one possible location be crossed out, one at a time.

That left me here though. Alone. With one of Rha’s spies. Granted it was just a kid. Maybe a bit older than Damian, but he was still Dangerous. 

“Are you sure we should not be trying to just beat Rha’s to the court? Im sure we can take them out before Rha’s men get there.” Jason gracefully spun the knife between two fingers as he asked his question. It was a good point, but Batman was sure that Rha’s was already on the move and more than likely already had Damian. The best solution would be to focus on the league while they took care of the court for us. 

Batman just grunted as he had already explained all of that to both Jason and Dick, but nerves and the thought of managing getting the same killed twice was not something someone wanted to own up to. That was why everyone was now on high alert and ready to attack at any moment. 

Speaking of ready to attack at any moment, the animal like growls coming from the small figure still cuffed to the table.

“Ahhh, what are we going to do with you?” i asked to no one in particular. I had seen this boy with Damian alot. He was alway close to him and i had thought it was due to them going through some tough stuff together and the mentality that street kids stick together. I saw that kind of mentality with Jason and thought maybe it transferred to Damian as well, but maybe this kid was just using Damian’s fear as a way to get close to him.

“Hey kid, what was the end game plan with you any way?” i asked him. I didn't expect an answer from him. Not really, but it would be nice to have an idea of the situation. How did he know where to find Damian? How long was this planned? And where were they taking Damian? 

The kid just paused for a moment before he sat back down and pointedly looked away from me. Ignoring me now. I suppose i should not be as annoyed, but i was. This kid here was in serious trouble and he was just making it worse. 

“What? Did you even have a plan?” The kid looked at me now. His eyes dead and void of anything that might have been a soul at one point. That's when i saw it. Or more like realized it. This kid, Jerold, he was like Damian. Back when he first came to us. Poisoned. This is where Damian could have ended up as. Would his eyes be as void as Jerold? Is Jerold even his real name? Does he even have a name? 

“Where’s Damian?” He looked further away from me and stayed silent. “Do you even know?” his body twitched to curl in on itself, but he was quick to relax it. Not quick enough for me to miss. Or for Batman to not notice. Batman didn't stop typing though. He just kept working on the computer. 

“You don't know. They never told you what would happen afterwards, did they?” was that it? This kid had no clue what would happen after Damian was taken back. In Fact, he had nothing from the league that we could find. What was the plan? The child just growled at me in warning. Was i getting closer?

“ you were not told anything. That little pack you were part of, they all were once league sleeper agents. So maybe the others would have information. We should go back and grab them too. Integrate them as well.” i was only speaking out loud. This kid didnt know shit, and chances are, neither did they. The question is why though.

Jerold whole body stiffened though. Becoming rigid at the possible threat to the others. 

“Not a bad idea there. I'll just go and cuff them and bring them here. Be back in a jiff.” Jason had caught on and was playing with it. 

“That's not necessary. They don't know anything.”

“Ahh you speak. And i think we would be the best judge of that, dont you think?” 

“No, they don't know anything. I barely know anything and they approached me and i alone.” 

“So, are you willing to tell me what it is they wanted now?”

“No.”

“Too bad. We need to know because if we don't Damian will most likely be lost to us and you. Do you want that? For someone that was nice to you to just disappear while you stayed silent about it?”

“I wasnt suppose to be left behind. We were supposed to go together!” there he goes. Breaking apart now. 

“And what does that mean? Damian was already with you. He wouldn't have gone anywhere if things just kept going the same way. You would have stayed friends with him and would have been safe.”

“All of you are ignorant! We weren't safe. As long as the demons head didn't have his heir, the world would burn. By offering his heir back he promised the world's safety and prosperity. That's all he wanted. For his family to come back to him.” the boys voice slipped into a soft murmur. Batman had stopped working to stare at the kid handcuffed to the table.

“And what of his wants? What if Damian didn't want to go back to him? He ran away from him to live his own life. And that choice was ripped from his very hands by people like you. Now, he’s alone and defenseless. At the mercy of a demon and its because you helped hand him over.” Batman has risen from his seat and his fury was tangible. Boiling from his being and spilling in the air. 

“He wasn't supposed to be alone. I was going to go with him. So he wouldn't have to do this alone! I never wanted him to be alone!” 

“ Do you really think that would have made it better? You betrayed him. He trusted you and it lead him to the arms of his enemy.” the kid was clenching his fist now, head faced down and eyes hidden from sight. Refusing to give any of us an edge. Perhaps the situation was finally starting to dawn on him and how his actions doomed Damian. 

 

“Jerold, anything you know, anything would help at this point. The more time we need to focus on finding where Damian went, the more we lose him.” everything was silent. No typing. No sound of a knife being gracefully spun. Not even the sound of a breathe being taken.

“He might be taken to an offshore base they have before going to their main base. Its an old oil rig off the coast. Thats where the first hier is held, so that is where they will reunite him with the head.” got it. Bruce immediately went to see if there was in fact a base out that way and when it was confirmed he stood up and immediately started to head to the batmobile. 

“Thank you Jerold.” he didn't even react. He just continued to stare at the floor.


	34. the rescue

I missed him. I missed how he would sit next to me. Always silent, but always a comforting presence. The only family i truly have left. My precious daughter was not able to return to me. Not even with the power of the pits did she find her way back. Only her son. My grandson. He was the only the one that came back to me, but not everything of him came back to me. Just his body and soul. His mind completely wiped of his past. At first i had thought this was a gift given to me by some higher power. Considering that my daughter was not able to come back, the least i could have would be for my grandson to be given a second chance to be raised without memories of his father or his mothers transgressions, but with time i realized he was still affected by a past he did not remember. Anytime i would try to bring him to his mother's side, he would recoil from her. Flinching from her form. Her cruel actions still instilling that instinctive fear for him. I thought better than telling him about his father. What if he got the notion in his head to go back to him. To return to the father that had damaged our relationship so much, but i suppose in the end it did not matter.

Damian had taken his chance to abandon his rights to the league and instead chose to live amongst the filth. I would have allowed him to do so if he did not venture to close the Bat himself. I know the second that the detective saw him, the war would start again. And i was tired of this war. It had caused me so much more than what i was willing to give at the point. I had given up my wife’s life. Sons. and when it came to my daughter turning on me and by her hand my grandson’s life. I knew then that this war needed to be reevaluated. Something had gone wrong and there was no clear goal from here. I started the league of shadows to make sure that this world would have a bright future and had given it my very soul, but it cost the unwilling soul of my grandson. It was time to rethink what my next move will be. First though, i must have Damian back by my side. I wish to know what it was that caused him to flee from me. From the life he was meant for. This was my legacy and i was handing it over to him with all the training and skill i could give to him. And he turned away from it. Refused the power the position would give him and chose to live on the bottom of the worlds boot. 

Regardless, i will have the final component of the game back beside me and will finally be able to figure out what to do next. 

Stepping away from the still form i started my treck back up to the main hall of the base. The sound of waves and the scent of the sea greeted me as i finally made it outside. My men were already standing guard around the helicopter that had landed. They were starting to form a break in their line for me to see deathstroke and his captive. My grandson. 

“Packaged delivered.” Deathstroke said as he unceremoniously tossed Damian to the ground about a foot away from me. The boy cumbled to the ground with his head down. His overgrown hair covering most of his face. His clothes were rumpled and dirtied. They would need to be discarded immediately. 

“Your payment will be in your offshore account, as promised.” i stepped forward and leaned down to grab a hold of Damian’s arm. He flinched from the initial contact, but did nothing else to stop me from hoisting him back up to his feet and standing in front of me. Taking in his state, i saw the blood the had crusted over and darkened his pailed skin. The lack of a round face that had come to associate with his childish face. It had become lean and his stature as well had now reached my mid chest, rather than how he was only at my waist before. 

“Good, nice doing business.” and with the the blasted mercenary went back to the helicopter and started it up again. It was a relief seeing the man leave. I didn't want him near for the rest of this game. Within the next 12 hours this base will be in the sea and with it, all of the failures that had occured will be forgotten. 

“Come Damian. It's time for goodbyes and preparations.” i placed my hand on his shoulder and nudged him forward. He took a step forward and looked forward. Marching forward on my orders. Still such a good little soldier. 

 

JErold had talked and it was one of the many miracles we seemed to have gotten today. Once we had an idea of where to look first, we didn't need to sift through the hundreds of possible hideouts. After that we found the base almost immediately. I could have hugged Tim for being able to pull that info from the kid, but i wa too preoccupied getting ready for the fight about to happen. 

Red Hood and Batman were already armed and waiting for me in the plane and once i was situated we all took off to the base. That was 30 minutes ago. I could already see the island. The plan was that we dive under the base and sneak in through a escape hatch for the excess water that spills on. We go in, me and bruce go get Damian while Tim and Jason set charges around the base to take it down. That should send a message to Rha’s about messing with us. 

Then we take Damian back home and have him sit down and explain to him who we are and why we love him so much. And maybe get some ice cream. 

“We’re here. Get ready.” Batman ordered and we all stood up. Ready to jump down.  
I jumped first and landed with a small splash into the small mout. I ran ahead of the group and kept look out while the rest caught up. Together we ran through the tunnels. Keeping our presence hidden while we navigated the underground tunnels.

“Wait.” Batman halted us. He pointed up to a hatch that was above our heads. Batman reached up and unhooked the hatched and peaked through. He held up 3 fingers. Telling us there were 3 guards up there. Batman swung his body up and i followed suite. I climbed through the beams and just like the old days, batman and i dropped down on the three guards. Taking them out silently. Hood and Red Robin ran up to us. We looked between the hallways. 

We needed to split up now. Batman pulled up the map on his holopad and pointed to the opposite side of hallway. Indictating for hood and red robin to move out. They nodded and took off to set the bombs up. Batman turned to me and we continued forward. Taking out guards that were unfortunate enough to get in our way. We needed to get a idea where they would be keeping Damian if we wanted to get off the base soon. 

“Batman.” i whispered. He paused and looked at me. “We need a better idea of where we are going.” he nodded and motioned for me to go down a different hallway. We would split up to make this quicker. I nodded and took off down the hallway. There was hardly any guards down this way,and now that i thought about it, there was not nearly enough guards for a place that This would be. 

I pressed my back against the wall and listened. This was too easy. Where was everyone? I hoped we didn't go on bad information after all. I swear, i don't go home today with a little brother in my arms,someone was going to pay. 

I threw myself down another hallway and was greeting with a hallway littered with bodies of guards. The walls torn apart and paint chipped and stained with blood. Oh god. What happened here?

Tiptoeing through the disaster, i saw a door ajar at the end of the hallway. I paused and sent a pulse indicator to Bruce of where i was. Incase this turned out to more of shit scene and i needed backup. On a brighter note, this explained where all the guards had gone. They were on the floor, and the walls, and the...ceiling? Jesus christ. 

Crouching down, i looked through the crack in the door and saw some kind of bright red glow that seemed to be moving around the room. I nudged the door open a bit with my foot. The room was just as destroyed as the hallway was.

“Hnnnggg…” The sound of grunting caught my ear. I nudged the door some more and saw Rha’s was lying on the floor with what i could only guess was talia on top of him. He teeth bared and snapping at his throat. The only thing keeping her from completing her current goal was the blade of a sword Rha’s was pushing against her.

“Talia, stop this! For yours and your sons sake. Snap out of this!” Damian? I pushed against the door, slamming it against the wall. The crack of wood hitting wood caught both of their attention and Talia sprung up and dashed towards me. I took out my escrimas and aimed it at her head. Here comes some justified payback for all the shit she put this family through. 

I slammed it against her skull and that should have put her down, but she just screamed at me and spun around again at me and swiped her hand at me. I dodged and rolled away from her.

“Talia! Stop!” Rha’s pleads did not work on her. I took a step back and pulled myself up. I was ready for another frontal attack, she instead made a hard left on me and went for a closed door on the other side of the room that i hadn't noticed in my quick entry. She banged and racked her fingers down the door. The door took all the punishment, but it was starting to cumple under viciousness. 

“Talia! You must stop!” Rha’s yelled as he ran forward and tried to pry her away from the door. The red glow was strongest behind this door and i had another feeling that Damian was behind this door as well. Instincts told me to run in and just grab Damian, but with Rha’s barely able to hold back Talia, she would come after us immediately. God damn it. Where is Bruce?

Ok first thing first. Deal with Talia. I needed to put her down. Then Rha’s. 

Talia was now clawing at her father's face and Rha’s was desperately trying to over power her and flip her over to restrain her. I took my chance and turned my sticks on stun and swung them down as hard as i could on her again. This time both her and Rha’s were hit with a bolt of electricity and were sent into a short shock where Talia went down. She fell to the ground, trying to take in air, but her body refused to cooperate. Her body was shot and if she didn't snap out of her trance, her body would give out on her and she would die. Again. 

Rha’s was not doing much better. He had taken a knee, propping himself up with his sword at the same time trying to hold Talia up. He wasn't down for the count, but with any luck, Bruce would be stepping through that door anytime now and Damian will be in my arms. I left them and went to the locked door. Talia had done enough damage to it that all i had to do i lean my weight against it before it popped opened and the flood of red spilled out. The whole room was casted in the glow and it centered from this shard that was resting on Damian’s chest. Damian was restrained by his wrist. Keeping him on a short leash to the floor. He was peacefully resting though. I went forward and started to pick the locks. The heat from the crystal though was overpowering and from the smell, it must have burning into his skin at this point. I grabbed the shard, but it started to burn through my suite. I dropped it on the ground, being sure it was away from Damian. 

I go thim uncuffed and picked him up. He let out a sound distress and i felt my chest tighten from the small whimper. It was almost over. I promise. 

 

I walked out of the room to see that Bruce was finally on scene and was watching Talia as she tried to get back up. She was reaching for us in the room. Or at least that's what it seemed like. I moved away from the room and towards Bruce, but she didn't even pay attention to us. She kept trying to move towards the room that still glowed red. The shard? 

“Bruce.” i called out to him, but he was already starting to move to the room. He went in and bent down to the shard, but he too dropped it from it heat. He bent down again and scooped it into a metal container. It didn't glow through, but it must have been making it hot because bruce put it on his belt instead of holding it. Walking back towards us, Talia tried to crawl towards us, but the final blow was too much for what i now realize is her malnourished body. What have they been doing down to her here? Whatever it was, we had to leave. 

“Batman, you don't understand. He needs to stay. This is where he belongs.” Bruce didn't respond. Just indicating for me to hand him over to him. I hesitated but reasoned that i would be able to hold him on the way back home. I handed him carefully over, being sure not to jostle the burn on his chest. Bruce held Damian in his arms. Deftly shifting him to one arm and gently brushing his bangs out of his face. Bruce only took a moment for himself though. Already carrying our boy out of the room.

“This place will be sinking in less than 20 minutes.” and with that bruce was out of the room and steadily walking out of the base. It was time to go home.


	35. the awakening

Grandfather was leading me down a maze of corridors and hallways. The walls were painted in some kind of yellowish off tin color. It was a pretty color, but I still found it hard to look at the walls. I felt my body constricting in on itself. Trying to collapse on itself and implode. Like I was about to start screaming anytime now. 

The pressure in the base of my throat was building up. I had lost any nerve I might have had. The worst possible thing happened and there was no one coming to save me. There was no one able to save me. I was going to be put back in the same position. Just another toy for my grandfather. And there was no one who could help me, or even put me out of my misery. I just wanted this all to end. Why couldn't i just get one thing to go my way. Id go back to Gotham and do whatever Batman wanted. Id go back to be alone on the street as garbage. I just wanted away from him now. 

I kept my face cool throughout the whole ordeal of the walk though. My grandfather keeping a firm grip on my shoulder as he walked me into a dark room. Pushing me in and closing the door behind us. We were alone. I took a step to the side, not gaining much room, but atleast moving a bit more out of the way incase he decided a punishment was needed. Granted, in such a closed off space, there was no way i could avoid any attack. 

I was surprised when instead of raising a fist, he instead raised a gentle hand and placed it on top of my head. I held back the flinch that came from the contact and let him turn my head to a darker part of the room. A body laid on a bed. Still as ever. 

“Say hello Damian.”

“Hello Mother.” my voice was automatic and void. I didn't let any emotions out about seeing her. I don't know why, but her presence always made me on edge. 

“Good, I'm sure she has missed you, Damian. I have.” I looked up at the man. “It's true. I have missed my family and I am so close now to getting everyone back. Damian, come.” He gestured for me to follow him. I walked with him to a side door. He opened it and stepped in, coming back out a moment later with a think black box. 

“This will fix all the mistakes of the past Damian. This will bring back your loving mother and any you two can start a new. Be the family you were before.” I continued to stay quiet. I was confused now. What could fix something that not even the pits could?

Grandfather stepped forward and opened the box and a deep red spread across the room. 

“This is an ancient crystal that the gods created long ago. It can restore and destroy. I will not use this to destroy though. This will restore what has been lost. Come, boy. It is time for us to be together once again.” 

“Grandfather, what will it do?” Grandfather just looked down at me and smiled before picking the shard up with his bare hands, smoke almost immediately rising from his fist. The shard was burning him! 

He stepped forward, raising his fist up and plunging the shard into Mother. It burned into her and she let out this terrible screech. 

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!” my ear rung from her cries and I jumped back while grandfather pulled the shard out again and let it drop to the ground. He held his hand now, looking at the damage handling the shard had done. 

“Ahhhhhhh!” mothers screeches continued, and the pain increased. This was not a human screaming anymore. Her voice had morphed into something otherworldly. It burned my mind and I sprinted to the door to get away from her. Throwing the door open, the hallway was littered with guards at the ready. I was rushed and thrown back into the room where my mother was screeching. She had risen from her bed and was now tearing at her own hair. 

My grandfather yelled out orders to go and stop her. To hold her down and restrain her. I was lying on the floor now, the guards were jumping over me to get to mother, but she was just throwing them around like ragdolls. Tearing someone apart as she made her way to the floor. Looking for something. 

Oh god, I hope it's not me. I rolled forward and started to make my way to the door. This was a chance to try and escape. I continued to crawl forward when I felt a hand grab the back of my neck and pull me further into the room.

“Why can't you just stay with your family Damian. We are so close to being together again.” Grandfather was dragging me into the room and I was desperately trying to get myself unhinged from his grip, but his grip, even one-handed, was unrelenting. I was dragged into the room from before and grandfather threw me against the wall. 

“Ughh..” I grunted as I dropped to the floor. The impact caused me to lose my breath and pain to spread across my already fucked up back. I squeezed my eyes shut trying to regulate my breathing. The sound of my mothers screeching was echoing through the room while the sound of the massacred guards was starting to become quieter. I tried to stand back up, but my ribs ached so bad that I fell back to the floor almost immediately. Clutching my chest, I tried to take in a breath, but it was too painful. Grandfather stood over me, his dark green eyes blazing down at me. Livid at the situation and his insubordinate grandson. 

He bent down to me and grabbed my wrist, dragging me further back to the wall and cuffing me to the wall with metal cuffs. Chaining me down here while he dealt with the situation out there. I glared back up to him and watched him walk back out, only to come back in almost immediately, hold the red shard from before. He came to stand over me and held it above me. 

“Keep watch of this Grandson.” He sneered down at me, before dropping the shard. It dropped on my chest and a burst of fresh new pain washed over me. First came the burning, I could feel my very skin starting to melt from the contact. I'm pretty sure I was screaming upon the first contact, but I couldn't hear myself. My mind was pulled from my body, which would have been a blessing if I was thrust into a dizzying spell of images of people I didn't know, and events that didn't happen. It was like these images were being burned into my very mind. 

The battle fought and won. People talking to me I recognized but never talked to. Superman, flash, most of the justice league. All speaking to me, some with fond smiles others with a look of disapproval or exasperated eye rolls. I never met these people. Then memories of Batman. Him talking to me in a car. Or him in my room at the manor, smiling down at me as I painted for him. He had never done these things with me. So why was I seeing them? Him and I in a battle against Talons and then him comforting me afterward. Holding me close. I could almost feel his warmth. I longed to feel some kind of comfort. 

And then all of the sudden I was faced with other images of Grayson, Tim, and Jason. Grayson picking me up and twirling me around him. I looked like was angry with him, but I felt something inside of me become giddy at the image. Reflecting the emotions inside of the image. Then Tim sitting next to me as we talked over a computer file. He was pointing at something and I looked interested in what he was saying. Leaning closer as he explained in more detail. It was a simple scene, but it brought me so much peace. 

I was just starting to get comfortable when I was tugged into a different direction, pointed to a scene with Jason. He was kneeling down at his bike, working on it. I approached him from behind and said something, but he didn't turn around. Instead just kept working. I got closer to him and said it again, but he just kept going. When I took another step and was beside him he quickly turned around and dragged me to the floor with him. Crossing his legs over my stomach and effectively holding me down while he went back to work on his bike. I struggled for a bit before seemingly giving up. Eventually I started to mess with his bike too, he seemed annoyed at first, but eventually started to tell me what to do his bike. Pointing at random spots on it for me to fix or to take apart. But soon the image soon turned into nothingness. I was lulled into the darkness. I was not sleeping, but it felt like my mind was starting to wake up, but with more awareness of those around me. 

I was no longer chained to the wall or on the hard ground. Instead, I was lying on a warm soft surface. Being cradled against with the utmost care as soft voices spoke around me. My mind was still fuzzy from the images and a buzzing had started to replace the ache. My body still felt like it was run over by a line of semi trucks. 

“The place was already set to blow, so we just sped up the time.”

“They everyone left got out?”

“There was only Rha’s left, so yeah. That guy wouldn't die like that.”

“Ah, well hopefully he got the message that he lost.”

“I think he did. His own plan backfired on him. Whatever he was trying to do cost him gravely.” 

“Mmm,” the talking went quiet after that. I kept my eyes closed for now. Still too tired to do much, but I've gathered I was no longer with my grandfather but with father.

“How's he holding up?” I have rearranged again and this time I was lifted up and my head lulled against someone's neck. I smelled familiar. Grayson. He was holding me against him again. I wanted to lift my arms and wrap them around his neck and just bury myself in his warmth like I used to. 

“ Pretty beat up and that burn on his chest was nasty. Whatever that stone is, let's hope it hasn't done too much damage to him.”

The stone? Right the burning. 

“Think we are gonna have a freak out when we get back to Gotham?” Home? Are we going home? 

“Maybe, hopefully, he will be open to the truth.” the truth? What truth? 

“ At least he will be safe.” I was held a bit tighter after that. I tried to lift my arms up, but it just ended with a pathetic twitch from my arm. 

“Huh? Damian? You awake.”

“Tt” it was the best I could do.

“Thank god. Don't worry buddy. We got you.” I was unable to speak so instead I just nuzzled further into his hold. 

“Yeah me too buddy. I'm glad to have you back too. Don't worry we are almost back.”

“Hme?” I mumbled out.

“Home? Yeah, we are almost home.”


	36. the end

The sound of machines working and beeping woke me up. I was back in Gotham. I knew that without having to ask. I was in the cave beneath the Wayne Manor. I was in the healing ward and chances are Alfred was very close.

I blinked my eyes open and saw a blinding white light, but given a few seconds my eyes adjusted and I was able to make out the overhead light bulb. My body was heavy and sluggish. A sure sign that I was heavily drugged. Which I was fine with. I was too tired to really fight at this point. 

I turned my head to the right side of my bed and saw that Father was leaning over a cabinet, reading something. Father? That is who he was. He was my Dad. and he came back for me. They all did. 

“Father?” Father’s back stiffened and he turned around to look at me. 

“Damian? What did you just call me?”

“Father. You are my father right?” my memories were still fuzzy, but my heart told me that it was right. This man was my father. The man that would move a mountain if it would stop me from dying. The man that had tried to move the world to protect me. 

“Right. Damian. It's me. It's your father.” Father came to bend down and gently lift me up into his embrace. Holding me against him as he ran his hand through my hair. I was just so happy that I was with him again. I was so happy to be back and that I know for certain now, I was safe and free from my grandfather. 

Time skip~ just 15 minutes

“How in the world did Rha’s get his hands on something so powerful?” Tim asked as he continued to read the reports about the chaos crystal. There wasn't a lot of information on it, but it did say that it could destroy and restore. 

“Well, it's Rha’s. If he didn't have his ways he wouldn't be so fucking old.” Jason said as he leaned over Tim. when everyone was close enough and had seen me and father hugging they paused and I gave a small wave and said a quiet, “Hi there...again.” I was currently being held by Grayson who had started breaking down again at the mere thought I had regained my memories. He had raced over to me and lifted me up into his arms. Being sure to not handle my wounds in any way that might hurt me. Tim and Jason had come in and said that they were happy I was finally back with them and each giving me quick welcome home hugs. Alfred smiled at me not too far away from the little reunion and continued to prepare my medication. 

Grayson had carried me over to the computer with the rest of the family. They were trying to figure out what had happened that caused my mother’s insanity and my sense of amnesia. The stone had destroyed her and restored me. A bite of guilt at ate me for a moment, but Father was quick to point out that there was probably nothing to destroy if the pit couldn't restore anything from her in the first place and it just corrupted the body instead. The shard just made a monster when there was no soul to restore. 

The court of owls had also been basically slaughtered in there a quick confrontation with the league. They would not be getting back up for a while and that was just fine with everyone. The real issue though was what to do with Jerold. When I found out that he was working with the league the whole time I was shocked. How could he do that? Why would he think I would want to go back to them? 

I was not permitted to speak with him yet. Father said in due time when he was a bit more rehabilitated then I could speak with him, but till then, I was left with the questions and the possibility that he was just hopefully confused and was unaware of my reasons for leaving the league. Till then though. 

“Oh crap! The others? Are they ok?” I asked Father and it took him a second to understand I meant Veronica and the others. He smiled kindly down at me and ruffled my hair.

“Yes, do not worry. We sent word to them that we got you back that you were just recovering from your injuries. They are also up to date with Jerold. They understand that the situation calls for some time apart, but they have made it clear to me that they will come show up unannounced if you do not get in contact with them as soon as you can.” 

“Then I better go call them.” I motioned for Grayson to carry me upstairs and to a phone. He just rolled his eyes at me but made no comment.

Calling everyone was as expected, hectic. Everyone was trying to use the one phone in the house to talk to me and they wound up just all yelling into the receiver at the same time. The little ones were asking me it was going to come back soon and if I would bring the dog when I came after I told them that they were being more obnoxious than Titus when I came home. I told them I would try to and that placated them. Jane and Rachel were busy telling how everyone from school was still freaked out about the random attack and that they were asking about me. There were no deaths, but I wasn't at school and people thought I was dead and were always saying sorry to them. I laughed it off and told them next time I was there to visit I would wear white makeup like a ghost to mess with them. 

Veronica and Ash and Randal came on next. They were asking me if I was alright. If Jerold was ok. ( I gave a very unclear on that one since I didn't know myself.) If Bruce was really my dad. If I was going to come back soon. Would I be living in Gotham for now? I explained to them that I had gotten really hurt one day and was kidnapped by my grandfather and had no memories of my father and family. That I had run away from him and that is when we met in Gotham. My father was just trying to make sure I was safe and not go into shock when he told me. 

Then came the most awkward question. 

“So your dad is Batman?” 

“Yeah.”

“That’s sweet.”

“That explains so much too.”

“Yeah.”

“Does he wear underwear under his suite?” 

“Randal!”

“What? It's a legit question?”

“It is Damian.”

“ I'm not answering that,” I said before I broke out into laughter. We spent the next 20 minutes just talking nonsense before I was asked to come off the phone to take my medication. I promised everyone to call back the next day around the same time. 

After taking my meds, Alfred made everyone go into the dining room and eat dinner together. We were quiet for the most part, but it was comfortable. We talked about random things. Staying clear of Rha’s and the league. Talking about shows or whatever insanity the Titans were up to. It was nice. And after we had eaten, we all went to watch a movie together and relax before bed. I was squished between my father and Grayson while Tim and Jason both sat in front of me. We were all sitting together after so long and I was finally at home. 

Then end. 

 

well, that's it. thanks for staying with me and hopefully you had some fun with this.


End file.
